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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27015721">Abandoned amusement parks are the best place for young children</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/InnittoWinit/pseuds/InnittoWinit'>InnittoWinit</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>sbi vs dt but they little gremlin children [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>A little, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Brotherly Love, Bullying, De-Aged Characters, Emotionally Distant Parents, Family Dynamics, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Protective Phil, Protective Wilbur Soot, Rivalry, Selective Muteness, Separation Anxiety, Sibling Bonding, Techno and Wilbur are twins, abandoned theme park, based loosely on the events of dream smp, dream still has his mask, george gets hit with a rock, how to tag, i mean kinda abusive parents, more neglectful than abusive but definitely traumatising, secret hideout, sleepy bois are brothers too, the dream team + bad are brothers, theyre kids so yknow everything seems like a lot at that age</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 02:34:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>45,448</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27015721</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/InnittoWinit/pseuds/InnittoWinit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Techno, Tommy, Wilbur and Phil have been hanging out at the abandoned amusement park in the woods since they moved in.<br/>Techno likes knowing he's definitely alone with his brothers<br/>Tommy likes climbing on the old rides<br/>Wilbur likes having a place to play his music<br/>Phil likes spending time with his younger brothers</p><p>That is, until a group of brothers calling themselves the 'dream team' move in down the road.<br/>Will the sleepy boys give in and share the park or will they succeed in scaring the new kids off?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Clay | Dream &amp; GeorgeNotFound &amp; Darryl Noveschosch &amp; Sapnap, Dave | Technoblade &amp; Wilbur Soot &amp; TommyInnit &amp; Phil Watson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>sbi vs dt but they little gremlin children [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2046044</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>328</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1063</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. rocks and roofs</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Character ages for reference:<br/>Phil: 16<br/>Techno and Wilbur: 13<br/>Tommy: 7<br/>Dream: 14<br/>George: 13<br/>Sapnap: 11</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>This was supposed to be their hang out spot! Nobody else’s! </p><p>Ever since Dream and his brothers had moved in, down the street, everything had gone bad. He was mature though, Tommy was very mature indeed, so he dealt with the majority of things that had changed very well. He could deal with them playing loud games of hide and seek in the street, he could deal with being teased for being the youngest when he and his brothers played with them. That was all very very easy to brush off.<br/>
What wasn’t easy to brush off though was them stealing the sleepy boys theme park!</p><p>When Phil, Tommy, Wilbur and Techno had moved in, it hadn’t taken them long to find a spot that was for them only. It was deep in the woods and covered by loads of trees, a big decrepit sign had labelled the old place as ‘L’manburg’, needless to say, the idea of hanging out in an abandoned amusement park excited all four boys.<br/>
Tommy loved climbing up the old rides, he always seemed to have extra energy to burn and this seemed like the perfect place to do it; Wilbur had always wanted a large open place he could practice his music without anyone around that would judge him had he messed up; Techno liked being so far from the outside world, making any kind of noise around people other than his brothers was terrifying, not even their own parents heard him talk most days, so a place where he knew it was safe it speak gave him great comfort; Phil just enjoyed spending time with his brothers, being the oldest of the bunch he saw himself as more of a protector than anything. </p><p>And boy, with Tommy, having only just turned seven, trying to climb every single rollercoaster he saw, they definitely needed someone there as a protector.</p><p>Wil and Techno had been the first to find it, the twins, inseparable since birth, had been on a walk after school. Wilbur’s curious nature often led the duo into some strange situations that could have been easily avoided had they not gone off exploring, this was a good find though. After checking the place out themselves, they immediately went home to tell their brothers about the find.<br/>
At first they had been hesitant to tell Tommy, they knew for sure that they wouldn’t be telling any adults. Adult’s just weren’t going to understand, they knew that they needed a place without any rules to chill out! </p><p>Tommy had a big mouth though, he spoke about everything to anyone and it often got him into trouble at school. He was the exact opposite of Techno in that sense.<br/>
If they were going to keep this place a secret they couldn’t tell him! Alas, they were left with no choice but to bring him along though, the first time the three oldest had left without him, he had thrown a tantrum over being left out so every time after that their mother had insisted he come too. </p><p>After Wil explained that the secret base would be taken away from them if he spoke a word of it to anyone, Tommy promised to keep his mouth shut. </p><p>Tommy couldn’t lose his place to burn energy.<br/>
Techno couldn’t lose the only place he could talk.<br/>
Wilbur couldn’t lose his music spot.<br/>
Phil couldn’t lose the chance to hang out with his brothers.<br/>
So the ‘dream team’ had to go. </p><p>Wil said they needed a group name too,<br/>
Phil came up with sleepy bois inc,<br/>
Techno thought that was a stupid name<br/>
Tommy didn’t know what incorporated meant. </p><p>And so, they were the sleepy bois, and L’manburg was their hangout spot, and it was being rudely threatened by the dream team, which was the group of three brothers, who had just moved in, Dream, Sapnap and George. </p><p>Dream was the oldest at 14, one year older than Wil and Techno were but Tommy still thought his brothers were cooler since they were taller than Dream was.<br/>
Next came George, he was 13. He was the same age as the twins but once again he wasn’t as tall as they were. Height was very important to Tommy.<br/>
The youngest brother was Sapnap, he was 11 but he was the same height as Techno, which Tommy though was stupid. He still didn’t think he was a threat though since Wilbur towered over all of them. </p><p>When the dream team had first found the old amusement park, he remembered how Wil had frozen up and stopped playing his guitar, how Techno’s mouth clamped shut and how Phil scowled at the fact someone had made his brother’s feel uncomfortable. Tommy had climbed down from the ride he was swinging on and ran over to them to see what they wanted. He was much younger than them but he was the most confrontational out of everyone there. Nobody was allowed to mess with his brothers.</p><p>Phil had run up behind him, grabbing him by the shoulder to make sure he didn’t go too close to the strangers, someone really needed to teach that kid stranger danger. </p><p>“What are you doing here?” Tommy had remembered spitting the words out like venom in his mouth as he folded his arms across his chest, only for Phil to sigh and pull him back. </p><p>“Ignore my brother, Are you lost? You're the boys that recently moved in near us right?” Phil was so polite, even when he was upset, Tommy admired that.<br/>
“I’m Phil and this is Tommy, back there is Wilbur with the guitar and the boy with pink hair is Techno” </p><p>“Dude!” The blonde had yelled out, pushing past Phil and Tommy and running into the theme park, his brothers following behind.<br/>
“This place is so cool!” </p><p>That's when Tommy decided they couldn't stay. It didn’t matter how cool they thought it was, this was their hangout spot and nobody was taking it from them. </p><p>Later he had discovered that they found L’manburg through George getting lost and them looking through the woods for him. That had earned him the nickname ‘George not found’, apparently he got lost a lot but Tommy didn’t care enough about the trio to actually find out if that was true. All he knew was what others had told him.</p><p>And so here they were, Tommy, Techno, Wilbur and Phil all stood on the roof of an old ticket booth as the Dream team stood on the ground below them. Tommy had filled a pillowcase with rocks that he planned to throw at the others but Phil told him that it was too dangerous and he didn’t want the boys to get hurt when he was the oldest one there.<br/>
Phil didn’t like Dream and his brothers but he didn’t want to throw rocks at a bunch of kids, he was 16, he was way too old for that kid of stuff. </p><p>“How hard is it to share the Theme park! It's a big place, we just want to explore it!” Dream had to lift his mask up a bit to yell to where they were standing. The mask was something weird that Tommy had never really questioned, he supposed it was because his own brothers had their own quirks like that too.<br/>
Dream sucked but he could keep his face hidden if he wanted to, Tommy had learnt a lot about not forcing people to do things they were uncomfortable after he had tried to get Techno to talk in front of Tubbo.<br/>
He remembered Phil sitting him down and explaining that Techno had selective mutism and he found it very scary to do those things in front of people he didn’t trust. Tommy understood after that. </p><p>“No!” Tommy, always confrontational, had shouted “No! No! No! You’re going to tell people about it and then it won't be a secret anymore!” Stomping his foot, he glared down at the blonde. </p><p>“You’re such a little brat! Why can’t you just shut up like your brother, he-” George pointed towards Techno “Never yells about useless shit”</p><p>Tommy was okay with being viewed as a brat if it kept his brother safe.<br/>
Wilbur was furious though. Not only had they insulted his youngest brother but they had also insulted Techno. His twin wasn’t quiet because he was just shy or polite, he literally couldn't talk in front of people he didn't trust. He had so much personality and the fact that George had dumbed him down to ‘the quiet kid’ made his blood boil.<br/>
Had they bothered to get to know Techno, they would have learnt how competitive and skilled he was, how funny he could be and how intelligent he was overall. They didn’t need to hear his voice to see his personality, they didn’t seem to understand that and that was what made Wilbur the angriest, he could tell Techno was mad too, by the way he gave the brothers a death stare.<br/>
Wilbur knew Techno would be mad on Tommy’s behalf though, someone needed to be mad on his behalf too. </p><p>Without thinking, Wil grabbed a rock out of the pillowcase Tommy had brought and lobbed it at George’s head, causing a big red gash on the side of his cheek.<br/>
Everyone was silent for a minute. Nobody expected the Guitar playing, beanie wearing boy to suddenly lose his temper like that. Honestly they were lucky that the only result of the rock was a gash in the cheek, it could have gone a lot worse and they were all well aware of that.  </p><p>With a few yelled insults, the trio eventually scuttled off, presumably to go make sure George was okay. Once they were completely out of view Techno cleared his throat.</p><p>“So Wil, what was that about?” he sighed, sitting down on the ledge of the roof, Tommy and Phil soon followed him in sitting down too, Phil making sure Tommy sat next to him so he could keep a hand on him in case he fell. </p><p>“They made fun of you and Tommy! and you were hardly going to defend yourself so i had to do something, they can’t go around treating people like that.”<br/>
Sitting down with his legs pulled up against his chest, he rested his head in his knees, one hand lingering on top of Techno’s for comfort.<br/>
Techno had never been super affectionate but Wilbur seemed to calm down easier when he had some contact and he didn’t mind holding his hand if that’s what he needed. </p><p>“You know we’re going to get in a fuck load of trouble if they tell on us right?”<br/>
Phil was the oldest of the bunch and while he tried to be the most mature, he did struggle to make the right decisions sometimes. He enjoyed joining in with his brother’s antics and he didn’t like scolding them but in times like these he knew he should probably make sure they knew not to let history repeat itself. </p><p>“Yeah..”</p><p>“And you know he didn’t deserve to get a rock thrown at his head right?” </p><p>Wilbur scowled at that<br/>
“But techn-”</p><p>“Techno is fully capable of standing up for himself, you know as well as I that if that comment had genuinely hurt him he would have done something. Whether that be letting you know, or actually throwing the rock himself, he wouldn’t have just stood there.”</p><p>“They insulted Tommy too.” Wil was mumbling now, a bad habit he had that came up whenever he knew he had done something bad but didn’t want to take responsibility for it. </p><p>“Tommy literally doesn’t care about what anyone says about him. Wil, You're allowed to be hurt for them and it’s completely normal for you to want to protect them but that boy is going to have a scar on his face. I know none of us like them but next time we run into them you need to apologise for that.”</p><p>With a stubborn nod, the brothers fell into a comfortable silence. The sun was setting, Tommy had moved into Phil’s lap at some point, and Techno had Wil’s hand clutched in his own, making sure Wil knew he still cared about him, that even though he had done something bad they all still loved him and they were all still brothers. </p><p>If Wil was getting into trouble, they all were, the unspoken agreement that they wouldn’t tell anyone lingered in the air as they sat, huddled together in that same comfortable silence until Techno broke it. </p><p>“Sure we’ll get killed if mum finds out we hurt someone but we’ll also get killed if we keep Tommy out past dark” </p><p>“Shit” Phil mumbled as he climbed down from the roof, Tommy in his arms as the youngest grew sleepier.<br/>
“Okay guy’s home time!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. water logged maps</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Without Tommy and Phil around, Techno and Wil hang out in the park alone until they see some unwelcome visitors. </p><p>or </p><p>Wilbur tries to be nice and intimidating at the same time</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>L’manburg had never become a national theme park but it was big; if you asked anyone from any other town they would have never heard of it, but here it was like an urban legend, an eerie reminder of how things can go from bustling to dead in the blink of an eye. <br/>But even in a battlefield, poppy’s still bloom and even in a place like this, memories were still made. </p><p>As Wilbur strummed out random chords, trying to figure out the perfect sequence for the song he was working on, Techno sat next to him, cross-legged. With his long, pink hair draped over one shoulder in a loose braid, The teen scrawled into a notebook some English homework. Overall, the two were at peace, this was their routine and even with Tommy off playing at Tubbo’s house and Phil at work, they still enjoyed the time they could spend together. </p><p>Eventually, Wil had started singing Techno’s essay as if it were the lyrics to the song he had been working on, earning himself a snigger and a playful shove from his twin. </p><p>“Don’t you have any homework, music boy?” <br/>Pulling his braid up, twisting it into a bun and tying it off with a hair band, Techno glanced over at his brother. In all honesty, his hair really annoyed him, he was naturally very anxious and he didn’t like bringing attention to himself so long, pink hair didn’t seem like a very good choice. <br/>If he had any control over it, he’d be identical to Wilbur and he’d look so normal that everyone would leave him alone; the pink hair was always an anomaly, not even doctors could figure it out, the rapid speed at which it grew was strange too but he had learnt to live with it. <br/>Wil had a friend called Niki, she helped him with his hair when he was getting overwhelmed with it. </p><p>“I do but then you wouldn’t get to hear me sing would you?” <br/>Wil laughed, leaning back against the old pool wall as he reached for his school bag, only to notice that Techno already had a hold of it and was looking through his planner to see what homework he needed to catch up on. <br/>They really thought alike didn’t they? <br/>Wilbur smiled to himself as he looked up to Techno, waiting for him to lecture him on everything he needed to do. </p><p>“You’ve got a math’s paper due tomorrow, Phil’s better at that stuff than I am so if you need help you’ll have better luck with him than me”<br/>Techno copied Wil, laying down next to him even though the pool hadn’t been cleaned in years. No doubt their uniform would need washing. </p><p>“You’re both better than I am, Tech’ I really think at some point you should start going to your own classes” he sucked in a breath, lips pierced together “You’re smarter than I am and I don’t want to hold you back just because we want to stay together. I know you do all the work for your lessons and I think it’s really cool that you’re able to keep on top of things like that but eventually you should probably try to go to a class alone.”</p><p>Techno scowled and Wilbur knew he needed to elaborate if he didn’t want to hurt his brother. </p><p>“Tech’ you’re really cool and funny but you’re also so smart and I know you’ll get great grades in your exams if you keep at it but sometimes it seems like you’d be happier with your own group of friends. I’d miss you so much if we stopped staying together but I think it would be good for both of us if we learnt how to talk to people aside from each other”</p><p>“I can’t Wil. I know what you mean, we can’t stay in this bubble forever, but I dont think i’m ready yet”</p><p>“Yeah I know… and that’s fine, we don’t need to rush it, I’ll stay with you as long as you’ll put up with me” </p><p>And the tension melted away as the two laughed, it was almost ironic how they were so good at communicating their feelings with each other and so bad with it to anyone else (aside from their brother’s of course.) Wil had Techno’s hand clutched in his own again, he really loved his brothers and loved giving them hugs and cuddles, he understood that Techno didn’t like that kind of affection though so he stuck to just holding his hand whenever he felt big emotions.</p><p>The peaceful nature of their afternoon hadn’t lasted long though, a loud crash was heard somewhere nearby. Undoubtedly it would be the Dream Team, Wil didn’t understand why they couldn’t just leave, if he had accidentally intruded on someone else's spot, he would have left! </p><p>“Do you wanna go find them?” Wil stood up, still holding onto Techno’s hand. It was comforting but it was also just nice to know he was there and present.<br/>The pink haired boy nodded, pulling his bun back down into the long braid again since, even though it was less practical, it looked a lot better.  </p><p>The old pool was hard to climb out of, it always had been, but for Techno and Wilbur it was the best place in the whole park. If Tommy was being too hyper or Wil wanted some more privacy to play a song that might have been more personal, they always came down to the old log floom and sat in the pool.  <br/>It was deep though, it had been made with the intention of the boats riding over the water, they had never made any steps to get out since people weren't supposed to be inside of it but that wasn’t to say it was impossible to get out, you just needed to know how.  </p><p>Sliding his guitar onto his back and holding his backpack against his chest, Wil made his way to the old vines that seeped into the pool, they had never checked to make sure these vines were safe to touch but they had never gotten a rash from them so they supposed it was fine. <br/>After making sure Techno was right by him, the brunette used the vine to ‘abseil’ himself up the side of the pool, being only 13 they were both still pretty light but it was clear that in a few more years they wouldn’t be able to do that any more. <br/>Techno climbed up after him and that was that, he had his mouth clamped shut as he always had done when he didn’t know if he was alone or not, Wil didn’t mind though, he had grown up with his brother like this so he knew his mannerisms well enough to read his body language fairly accurately. </p><p>“I’m pretty sure the noise came from this way, honestly they’re probably digging around looking for things to steal. I don’t trust them at all” Grumbling, Wil shoved one hand in his pocket and took hold of Techno’s with the other. </p><p>Glancing towards his brother, he saw the same kind of expression as his own, he could tell that Techno was just as upset as he was about someone messing with their space. </p><p>“I don’t like them” He spoke rather matter-of-factly, he had grown a habit of rambling since he liked to fill the silence when Techno couldn’t talk. <br/>“They’re so rude. They don’t understand anything. I still can't believe what they said about you and Tommy! If you ask me, they deserved that rock! If Phil wasn’t there I would’ve thrown a second one..and a third one, then they could all have matching scars! And that Dream kid always has a mask on, how are we to know he’s not some criminal! Stranger danger dude! If we haven’t seen his face we shouldn’t play with him”<br/>Wil rambled on as they walked, unaware of how hypocritical he was being by criticizing them for being rude about Techno’s issues and then immediately talking about Dream’s. That was just a part of childhood though, you had to be a bit of an asshole sometimes to learn how to be a good person.  </p><p>After getting a sharp elbow to the rib from his twin, he realised that he hadn’t been paying attention to his surroundings at all because right in front of them were two of the three boys they had been expecting, sitting in the centre of a heap of old Theme park maps. They had never done any research about L’manburg but Wil guessed it was probably open during the 80’s due to the overall theme of it. </p><p>“What are you doing here?” </p><p>He tried to seem threatening, he hoped he had at least a little bit of a bad boy reputation after throwing that rock. He was still riding out the adrenaline high from that. <br/>That’s what he thought at least, until George turned around. From his ear to his mid cheek, there was a big, puffy, red scar and Wil couldn’t help but feel guilty. That looked like it had definitely needed stitches.</p><p>He never wanted to hurt anyone he just wanted to scare them and maybe graze them up a bit. </p><p>“Listen.” Wil sighed, telling himself he was only doing this because Phil had told him to and definitely not because he felt like a horrible person right now. Who knows how long that scar would take to heal? Maybe he’d have it all his life. The thought of someone being scarred for life because of him made him feel a little sick. </p><p>“I hate you guys. You and your stupid brother with his stupid mask. You’re all stupid and you dont understand anything. But I shouldn’t have hurt you” A bump to the shoulder and a squeeze to his hand was all the encouragement he needed to keep going, to know he was making the correct choice. <br/>“I feel really bad, that scar looks like it hurts, that being said though why are you here?”</p><p>The youngest brother glared at him, Wilbur glared back. He remembered Phil saying his name was Sapnap. That was a stupid name, he thought, but then again he had a brother called Techno so he was being hypocritical yet again. </p><p>“We were gonna look around because we thought you weren’t here but we got lost” George had mumbled from where he sat. Now the maps made sense, they were trying to find their way out. They were far too water damaged to be used though, the ink was smudged beyond comprehension, he remembered looking through them himself, with Techno and Phil when they had first found this place. Considering the amount of water damage all over this park, Wil wouldn’t be surprised if it had closed due to a hurricane or something. </p><p>“We were looking around but Dream called saying dinner was gonna be ready soon and that we had to come home but we don't know the way”</p><p>“We can show you the way” Wilbur wore a smug smile across his face, he didn’t even need to look at Techno to know he was thinking the same thing. <br/>“You need to swear never to come back though, you two or your stupid brother”</p><p>He could see Sapnap get angry over his brother being called stupid but he seemed to know when to pick his battles, considering he was currently the youngest in the group. </p><p>“Fine.” George stood up, slinging a backpack over his shoulders <br/>“Why are you so protective of this place anyway? It’s not like it can get any worse, none of the rides even work anymore”</p><p>For a split second Wilbur considered telling the truth, opening up to them. Aside from Phil, he was for sure the most honest brother, he wore his emotions on his sleeve and it was usually Techno that convinced him to pull back if he knew his brother was about to hurt himself. <br/>After a quick glance to Techno, to make sure it was okay, he started talking. </p><p>“I don’t have anywhere else to play my music, Tommy doesn’t have anywhere else he can run around, Phil just likes hanging out honestly, but there’s nowhere else Techno feels comfortable speaking. I’m not letting you take that from him, from us. He deserves to have a place he feels safe and we deserve to be able to talk to our brother” He didn’t bother mentioning that he found communicating with Techno like this still fairly easy, he wanted it to sting when he told the two why they needed the park. He wanted them to feel just as guilty as he had when he saw the scar. </p><p>“Can’t he just.. I dunno.. Talk?” Sapnap giggled, earning a smack to the back of the head from none other than Techno. </p><p>“It’s kinda like anxiety” Tommy hadn’t understood at first either, he thought maybe they just hadn’t experienced it before.<br/>“He’s fine talking with our brother’s and myself but it’s really really hard for him to do it with other people. He’s not weak though so don’t underestimate him because of it” He gave them both a glare, still trying to appear threatening </p><p>“So promise you wont come back. We took you to the exit, now go home and don’t come back” </p><p>The duo both gave half hearted promises, In fairness they weren’t even trying to be cruel. They were just young and wanted to explore a cool area with people they thought could potentially be their friends. Still not really understanding why they needed the place so badly, they muttered to themselves the whole walk home about how they could ‘reclaim’ L’manburg.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. monkey bars</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Techno, Wil, Tommy and Tubbo go together :) chaos ensues</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Games were never peaceful with Tommy around, the boy had a habit of creating chaos where-ever he went. Befriending Tubbo had probably been the most he had done to surprise anyone though, nobody expected the loud blonde to bond with the quiet Brunette. What they didn’t know though, was that Tubbo shared just the same amount of chaotic energy as tommy; they were both beacons for destruction, the fact that Tubbo liked his alone time more only made this better since Teachers were keen to partner them up, convinced that Tubbo’s good manners would rub off on Tommy.</p><p>Spoiler alert! They didn’t.<br/>Instead, Tommy helped Tubbo come out of his shell, all the energy he had kept inside was finally able to be shared with someone and that made him feel great. Tommy loved it too, he loved his brother’s but there was nothing like the feeling of having a friend who you genuinely could be yourself with.<br/>Very quickly after becoming friends, they had pretty much become joined by the hip. Not in the same way as Techno and Wilbur though, they were both perfectly fine away from each other, but if they had the chance they’d laugh and yell and play for as long as possible, loving every second of it. </p><p>“Tubbo! Watch this!” Tommy laughed as he pulled his friend into his room, pulling out a toy record player. Nobody was sure why but the kid had an obsession with the discs, most people put it down to him just looking up to his big brother and wanting to get into music too.<br/>“I got a new disc! Look! Look!” </p><p>Switching it on, the toy started spinning the plastic disc around slowly. Anyone older could tell you that the ‘disc’s’ just had little speakers at the top and a sensor that told it when to play the music, but for Tommy and Tubbo, it was incredibly real. The two sat transfixed around the little box as it played the song, Tubbo looking up to his friend with a big grin once it ended. </p><p>“That’s really cool, Toms’”</p><p>“Yeah! Mum got me it because I finished all my chores without her needing to ask me” Beaming, he popped the little disc out of the player and put it away, sliding it carefully onto the shelf. It was sweet how much effort he gave to things he really cared about, he knew he had worked hard for this and he was proud of himself.</p><p>This day just kept getting better, Tommy thought to himself as he heard his brother calling for him, spending time with them was always a lot of fun. <br/>“Hey Tommy!” Wilbur chirped while knocking on his door “Me and Techno are going off to L’manburg now if you wanna come, Phil’s still at-” </p><p>As he opened the door, Wilbur’s face scrunched up into an expression Tommy didn’t recognise. He bet he would have said a bad word if he and Tubbo weren’t there. It took a minute to mull the situation over but he quickly realised that the sudden drop in mood was because they weren’t supposed to tell anyone about the secret base! </p><p>Tommy felt a little bit like a detective, he had been able to figure out what was wrong with Wilbur without even needing to ask. Now that he thought about it, Wil was very good at doing that too, Tommy rarely had to actually ask for thing’s if he felt sleepy or sick. <br/>He wondered why Wil was so good at that. Maybe grown ups were just better at those things, he couldn’t wait till he was 13 too.  </p><p>“Aw c’mon Wil, Tubbo’s good at keeping secrets! Let’s go! Let’s go!” The boy sprung up and hopped over to Wilbur, tugging on his arm as he tried to convince him.<br/>It didn’t seem to be working. Wil shook him off and folded his arms, an exasperated sigh leaving his lips. </p><p>“Tommy, it’s a secret for a reason-”</p><p>“Tubbo can join in on the secret! Please Wil! You like Tubbo!”</p><p>Wilbur shook his head and sighed, glancing to Techno, who seemed to be standing outside the door, for confirmation on what he should do. </p><p>“Okay fine. But you can’t start going off there on your own, you still need one of us to take you okay?”</p><p>Tommy nodded excitedly and ran back to Tubbo, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him up, the poor boy still not knowing what was going on. </p><p>“Tommy?” Tubbo questioned, eyebrows perking up as he grinned, even in his absolute confusion he was still happy, because Tommy was happy, and that meant something good was happening. </p><p>“We’re going to the secret base Tubbo!” Tommy practically yelled it as he ran downstairs, tugging Tubbo along with him.<br/>“We’re going and it’s going to be so fun! I’ll show you all my favourite spots! But you need to promise that you won't tell anyone, not never! Ever never” His seven year old grammar skills weren't the best but at least he got his point across. </p><p>The duo sat at the bottom of the stairs, giggling and chatting as they got their shoes on. Recently Tommy had got some good white ones with a red cap on the toes, he thought they looked amazing; the best part though was that they were big boy lace up shoes, granted he couldn't tie his laces yet but he was still very excited about being so grown up. When he had first got them, he had bragged to Tubbo for hours about how he was such an adult now because of the shoes. </p><p>After Techno tied up Tommy’s laces for him, the four were off on their way to the old theme park. It had become a habit at this point, a daily routine. If they went all day with nobody visiting it, things just didn’t feel right.<br/>For Tubbo though, the walk through the woods was definitely not a habit, it was quite frightening actually. </p><p>“Psst” The shorter boy tugged on Tommy’s T-shirt, “You sure this is the right way? There isn’t even a path here..”</p><p>“Yup!” Not recognising Tubbos worries, Tommy just nodded and gave him a grin with a thumbs up. He was far too excited to show his friend around their spot. </p><p>Tubbo nodded. </p><p>After a ten minute walk through the woods, Tommy running and skipping the entire way, Techno and Wilbur having some kind of silent conversation with their eyes, and Tubbo silently panicking about the possibility of getting lost in the trees, they made it to L’manburg. </p><p>Overgrown as ever, sign large and rusted, it stood tall among the nature surrounding it. Tommy was the first to sprint over to the entrance, Tubbo’s hand clasped in his own as he pulled him along. It didn’t take long for Tubbo to become just as excited as Tommy was as he looked around. A whole amusement park, just for them. Any kid would have jumped at the chance.</p><p>“I know all the best spots! C’mon C’mon I’ll show you!” </p><p>And just like that, the two boys had run off to explore the park. Neither Wilbur or Techno saw any reason to go after them, Tommy knew his way around and he knew which places were stable enough to climb on, what they didn’t consider was that Phil was usually around to make sure he didn’t climb too high and get hurt.  </p><p>====</p><p>Tommy led the way, most coasters had a path of steps up to the first big drop, he supposed that was for maintenance. It didn’t matter much now though, to him it was all a big climbing frame. </p><p>“Tommy this doesn’t seem safe, do your brothers usually let you go up this high” </p><p>Tommy just nodded and climbed higher, loving the feeling of wind in his hair as he looked down and saw the whole park, he could even see Techno and Wil sitting in the old pool as usual, he wondered what they were talking about. </p><p>“Do you know how to monkey bar Tub?” Tommy smiled as he sat down where the steps ended, he felt the presence of his friend sitting down next to him. He didn’t want to scare Tubbo but he really wanted to show him the best spot. Not even his brother’s had seen this since they were all too heavy to climb up here, he wanted to share his spot with someone. </p><p>Tubbo nodded, grinning a little as he looked down, he was still nervous but Tommy seemed to know this place well. Plus! He could monkey bar very well.</p><p>When he looked beneath them, he saw some murky looking water, this place must have been abandoned a long time ago because a considerable amount of it seemed to be flooded beyond repair. For a moment Tubbo wondered what kind of animals had overtaken that section and then he shook his head, deciding that it didn’t matter and he was good at monkey bars so he shouldn’t need to think about it. </p><p>“Hmm okay” Tommy smiled, swinging his legs back and forth, like he was on a swing<br/>“Okay so you see that big Water tower? You only need to swing a few times before you get to it, there's a loft inside and it’s a good place to hang out. I think The coaster used to pass through it, the loft probably had like spare parts or something though” Tommy smiled as he pointed to the tower, a few metres ahead of them, then to the tracks that they would be dangling from. <br/>“Just Monkey bar from the tracks and then I'll help you into the water tower if you find it tricky to pull yourself up. </p><p>Tommy went first. Anyone would have told them to stop had they been supervised. This was absolutely not something two seven year olds should be doing. <br/>As his small body swung from track to track, Tubbo took mental notes, memorising just where he put his hands. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t scared but he was excited too, this was cool! <br/>Sliding himself down on the tracks, he felt his weight shifting between the steps and his hands. Feeling breathless, he moved across the rails, one at a time. <br/>Tommy was spouting out encouraging words for him as he refused to look down but he couldn't hear him, he was just focusing on not falling. <br/>Eventually he felt Tommy’s hands clasp onto his arms, pulling him up and into the water tower. </p><p>“Oh my god..” Tubbo chuckled, crashing into Tommy with a big hug “That was so cool! Tommy you do that on your own? All the time?”</p><p>With a nod and a big grin the taller boy hugged him back, Tubbo was good at this stuff but dangling off a rollercoaster would scare anyone. </p><p>“So this is a secret? No grown ups know?”<br/>“Not a single one.”<br/>“What about your parents?”<br/>“They think we’re at the playground” <br/>“I’ll keep it secret too then. I think this is really cool Tommy!”</p><p>…</p><p>“Yeah but these super mean boys who just moved in are trying to take it away. Wilbur killed one of them though so I think it’s done now”<br/>“Wilbur’s cool”</p><p>The boys sat there, just chatting, for hours; Tommy showed Tubbo a couple more places you could get to from inside the water tower but eventually the sun started to set and they knew it would be time to head back down.</p><p>Like before, Tommy went first with the Monkey bars, then pulled Tubbo up. The walk down was always scarier since it was so steep, even with so much practice Tommy still felt like he’d fall down sometimes. They made it though, Tommy running down the final few steps flawlessly, muscle memory kicking in as he saw his brother’s waiting for them at the bottom. </p><p>Unfortunately for him, Tubbo didn’t realise the only reason Tommy could run this part was because he had done it so many times. The brunette let go of the railing and sped up, foot slipping off the small wooden steps and leaving him to fall through the gap between the rails and the steps. </p><p>It wasn’t a far fall at all. It was barely over two metres; it was enough to knock the wind out of him though, and it was enough to scare a child. </p><p>The trio came rushing over as soon as he had lost his footing, Tommy crouched beside him, trying to be a big boy and not make a scene. If Tubbo had gotten hurt it would be his fault, he was the one who insisted he came, he was the one that took him up an old coaster. This was his fault. </p><p>Tubbo looked hurt. He had flushed cheeks, like he was trying to be a big boy and not tear up, and he had a bloody knee that he had caught on his way down. </p><p>“Tech’? You've got some stuff for thing’s like this right?” <br/>Wilbur glanced over to his brother, after Wil had thrown a rock at George, Phil had insisted someone carry at least some supplies to clean out a wound god forbid someone got hurt again. <br/>It felt stupid that they needed it, Wil knew he should have been more responsible. </p><p>After getting a small green pouch out of his bag, Techno crouched beside Tubbo. He waved his arm a little but Tubbo didn’t understand what he meant, he knew about Techno’s problems with talking, Tommy had told him about it, but he had never bothered to try and learn how to read him. It was just too hard to try and understand all the different things, they could be so subtle and mean something else entirely. </p><p>Techno furrowed his eyebrows, was he mad? Then he waved his arm again and pointed to Tubbo’s knee. Still not understanding, Tubbo started to get a little upset; he felt incredibly guilty for this, he shouldn't have been reckless, now Techno was trying to help him and he couldn’t even understand him. </p><p>“Stick your leg out Tubster” Wilbur hummed, sitting on the opposite side of him and pulling Tommy into his lap, half because the boy was usually getting tired by now and half because he wouldn’t stop moving around and tugging at Tubbo, which he was sure would make Techno’s job harder. </p><p>Thankfully, Tommy didn’t put up a fight, he just leaned his head on Wilbur’s chest and watched the scene take place. Wil couldn’t help but wonder what he did all day that tired him out so much. </p><p>Techno carried on, carefully dabbing at the cut with some kind of alcohol Phil had given to him. He made another motion and Tubbo looked straight to Wil, feeling a little embarrassed that he couldn't understand. </p><p>“Bend your knee” Wilbur placed a hand on the boy's back, trying to provide some kind of comfort for him since he was sure it didn’t feel nice having to have someone translate everything for you. </p><p>With a plaster stuck over the cut, Techno helped him stand back up, looking over him one last time to make sure there was nothing else, before putting the med-kit away. </p><p>By now it was getting dark, Tommy had fallen asleep against Wilbur’s chest and Tubbo looked like he was almost there too. There was no doubt that he and Techno would be in trouble for not bringing them home earlier, yet again. </p><p>God. Wilbur thought to himself. They really needed to Teach Tommy how to read time, if he kept going off on his own.  </p><p>----</p><p>“Wow Wil, I see you brought one of them back with a bloody knee. Upgraded from throwing rocks at kids your age, to throwing them at seven year olds?” </p><p>“Fuck off phil”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>did you guys catch the stream today? All i gotta say is OUCH</p><p>also ive noticed sometimes i upload these without proofreading properly and i might leave a word in that was used like 5 words ago or maybe a spelling mistake slips through, if you see these things please say something i promise you wont be a bother, i have ADHD so i kinda struggle looking at walls of text, i have a tendency to skim read even if i dont mean to </p><p>Anyway ily all tysm for reading so far &lt;3</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Spirited Away goes well with Pizza and regret</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>With their parent's out for the night, Phil has to watch his brothers, after learning about what the real situation with Tubbo getting hurt was, he starts to question how responsible his brothers really are</p>
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    <p>“We’re going to be out for the night, Phil’s in charge. Our numbers are on the fridge if anything happens okay?” Their Mom had given them each a hug and a kiss on the forehead as she and their father got ready to leave.<br/>
“Don’t stay up too late. Make sure Tommy’s in bed by seven, Wil and Techno you can stay up till 11. Phil, I trust you to not need me to give you a bedtime. Everyone be good for Phil, bye bye now”</p><p>And like that, they were alone; 3 teenagers and a toddler left unsupervised. </p><p>Phil was used to looking after his little brothers though, he loved it, he thought they were sweet, even when they were being bratty or whatever it was that they called tantrums nowadays. Perhaps he had grown up a little fast, he himself was only 16 but he felt much older, protecting the younger ones had always been something important to him. </p><p>“We should probably just order something to eat, I doubt you lot want to wait for me to cook anything anyway right?” Sniggering, he took Tommy by the hand and led him back to the living room, just wanting to keep him busy since it was a little late to let him go out to play. </p><p>“Pizza sounds good” Techno hummed as he followed in, Wilbur by his side. The twins sat on opposite ends of the sofa, resting their legs on the middle seat, at least, until Tommy decided he wanted to be like his big brothers and climbed up into the middle seat too.  </p><p>“Phil! I want pizza too!” Tommy grinned, trying to mimic the way Techno was sitting. To Phil, it was an adorable sight but it did annoy Wilbur and Techno, just the slightest, since he wouldn’t sit still. Eventually, Techno just decided to put an arm around him and give him the attention he very clearly wanted, the boy finally sitting still once he had the comfort of his big brother. </p><p>“Alright! It’s settled then! Be quiet while I phone up the place”</p><p>Flicking through the channels, the three youngest very quickly discovered that absolutely nothing good was on TV. Since it was in the evening, most of the kids channels had started playing the less popular shows that seemed to freak Tommy out a bit, so that was a bust, and all the more adult channels were either playing news or some random show that none of them wanted to watch. It took about 10 minutes of aimlessly channel surfing, and Phil returning to the room, before Wil decided that they should just put a movie on. </p><p>And so the same situation happened with Netflix, Wilbur scrolling through all the movies until Phil decided enough was enough and chose for them.</p><p>It was Spirited Away, perfect since it was both suitable for Tommy and interesting enough that Wilbur and Techno would enjoy it too. </p><p>It wasn’t until about halfway through the film that the doorbell was rung, a little tune playing throughout the house as Phil stood up to go get it, a little unspoken agreement that since Tommy was still a little young to be talking to strangers, and Wil and Techno still didn’t really like being in different rooms, it would always be him to grab it when their parents were out. He didn’t really mind anyway though. </p><p>After paying for the pizza and closing the door, Phil went into the living room and paused the movie. </p><p>“We were watching that big man” Tommy grumbled, lifting his head a little from where it had been rested in Techno’s side, only for his face to light up when he saw that Phil had the pizza. Food wasn’t allowed in the living room, that was one of the house rules and while Phil didn’t mind bending them a little while they were out of the house, if they made a mess while Phil was in charge, he’d be the one in trouble.<br/>
It was understandable though, a seven year old and two thirteen year old’s weren’t exactly a recipe for a clean house. </p><p>As Tommy ran past him to get to the kitchen, Phil nodded to the two boys who still sat on the couch.<br/>
“Up, you two, If i let you eat in here then Tommy will too. Do you really wanna deal with Mum and Dad going on about Tomato sauce on their sofa?”</p><p>“...No” And so Techno got up and wherever Techno went, Wil was sure to follow. </p><p>--</p><p>After sharing out the Pizza and making sure they all had some water, Phil sat down at the table, smiling at his brothers. From the looks of Tommy he was absolutely right to now let them eat in the living room. How does the pizza sauce even end up on your forehead?<br/>
He’d have to make sure he washed his face properly after dinner. </p><p>“What did you guys do at school today then?” It was a dull question but he was genuinely interested in how things were going, kids could be ruthless, especially for people like Wil and Techno. As their older brother, he wanted to make sure nobody was picking on them. </p><p>“It was alright, Nothing big happened I guess” Shrugging, Wil shoved some pizza into his mouth, after a glance at Techno, who just shrugged as well, Phil concluded that the kids were probably nice and the day had just been a bit mundane. </p><p>“Tommy then, how was your da-”</p><p>“So good!” The boy yelled as if he had been waiting for his turn to talk, he was getting a lot better at not talking over people which Phil liked.<br/>
“Tubbo has a scar on his knee from when we went to L’manburg together and he looks super tough! We didn’t say where he got it from though! See! We’re super duper good at keeping secrets!”</p><p>“Tubbo has a scar? I thought it was just a graze”</p><p>Sighing, he turned his attention back to Wilbur. He knew he was barely a teenager, he had only tuned 13 a few months ago but still, he expected a little better from his brothers if they were going to take Tommy and his friends out. Even if they wanted their alone time, they still should have had a little more responsibility. </p><p>Phil couldn't remember much from when he was 13, he supposed his little brothers didn’t have the same protective instincts as he did since he had always looked out for them all, maybe he did baby them a bit but he cared about them so much. He thought he was teaching them how they could care for people too.  </p><p>“I’m a little disappointed in you two, I’m not going to lie”</p><p>Choking back a laugh, Techno slapped his hand on the table.<br/>
“How is it our fault that Tommy and his friend got themselves into trouble? Tommy never gets hurt so we trusted him!” </p><p>“Techno stop yelling” His voice was calm and collected. He wanted to get mad, he wanted to yell but he knew that wouldn’t accomplish anything, that would just make the situation worse.<br/>
“Tommy never gets hurt because I don’t let him climb high enough that he does get hurt. Now I know you two like your privacy and I respect that, but you can’t seriously expect me to let it slide that you took two seven year olds out with you and one of them came back with a scar?”</p><p>“He wasn’t even badly hurt! Techno cleaned it out and everything” </p><p>“Wilbur, he's seven. I don’t think I’m asking a big thing if I’m asking you to supervise at least a little while taking your little brother and his friend out.”</p><p>“Why should Techno and I be responsible if Tubbo fell over?! Kids fall over all the time”</p><p>“That's not the po-” </p><p>“Yes it is! It’s not fair! Tommy is perfectly fine there on his own. How were we supposed to know that Tubbo wouldn’t be?” </p><p>“Because he’s a kid Wilbur! He’s a kid and most families don’t let their children run off in abandoned amusement parks for fun, okay?”</p><p>He regretted it as soon as the words left his mouth. He never should have yelled, he never should have lost his temper. And now, as Wil looked at him with wide eyes, he was paying the price. </p><p>“Fuck this.”<br/>
As the room filled with thick, thick tension, Wilbur looked around the table before slamming his hands down, storming out of the kitchen and up to his and Techno’s bedroom. </p><p>“..Tech’ I don’t suppose you’ve got a different opinion? Something maybe a little less angry?”</p><p>To Phil’s surprise, Techno’s mouth stayed shut. He was just sitting there, staring wide eyed at Wilbur’s empty seat.  </p><p>That’s when it hit him, Wilbur had left Techno. The oldest sighed, trying his hardest to come up with a plan where everybody could be happy. </p><p>“Okay..Okay, Tommy do you wanna finish watching the movie while to talk to these two” </p><p>Tommy didn’t answer either, that was less concerning though since he knew Tommy was fine with talking normally. After getting the youngest set up in the living room, making sure he was snuggled under the blanket with his favourite stuffed toy, he went back to Techno and motioned for him to get up. </p><p>“I know it’s scary, we’re going to talk to Wilbur”</p><p>Wordlessly, Techno got up and went to Phil.<br/>
God, he forgot just how young they were sometimes, they were usually so mature. To not even be speaking to him and Tommy right now, Techno must be extremely scared. Fuck. Why did he have to lose his temper like that? He couldn’t even be mad at Wil for running off, he was just a kid who didn’t like being yelled at. </p><p>But so was Phil. </p><p>“I wish there was more I could do to help you y'know? I really love all of you and I wish I could make things like this easier for you” </p><p>Techno didn’t say a word, instead he just held onto Phil’s hand. Knowing it was usually Wilbur who he went to for this kind of comfort, Phil smiled a little, it reminded him that Techno hadn’t suddenly decided he didn’t love them, he just needed his brother with him to show it verbally. That was fine as far as Phil was concerned. He was working through the speaking issues with his speech therapist so as long as he made progress there, he’d never try to push him here. He wanted home to be somewhere he could relax. Hopefully that was the right decision.</p><p>“Wil? It’s me and Techno” </p><p>Phil sighed as he knocked on the door. He felt horrible for talking to Wil the way he had. </p><p>“Look, I know I upset you. You’re just a kid and I can’t expect you and Techno to be able to be completely responsible for everything Tommy and Tubbo do. I’m well aware that they can be little devils.” </p><p>He heard shuffling from the other side of the door, whether that was a good sign or not wasn’t clear to him right now. </p><p>“I really love all of you and the idea that Tommy could have been in danger while I wasn’t there really scared me. I shouldn’t have taken that out on you two” </p><p>More shuffling, then the sound of the door unlocking. Finally, it opened to reveal Wilbur, with puffy red eyes, the sound of some sad indie band playing out of his laptop speakers. Upon seeing his twin, Techno let go of Phil and wormed his way past Wilbur so he could be next to him instead. It felt safe. </p><p>“I’m sorry too.. You were right, we should have been looking after them better. I guess I didn’t want to hear it. And I’m sorry to you too Tech’, it was selfish of me to run off without thinking about how it would affect you” </p><p>“Nah it’s fine” Techno spoke and Phil felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest, although he knew it was stupid, he had to admit he had been worried that Techno wouldn't ever speak in front of them again. He was extremely glad that that wasn’t the case.<br/>
“Yeah but Phil we were being kinda shitty.. Wil kinda already said everything I was thinking though so I can’t say anything without sounding like I’m copying” </p><p>Phil chuckled, at last the heavy atmosphere was gone. He had his happy little family back.<br/>
After pulling the duo into a hug for a few seconds, he checked his watch. </p><p>“Tommy’s downstairs all alone watching spirited away if you two are up for coming back down and finishing it with him? There’s still an hour before I’m putting him to bed”</p><p>---</p><p>The four all ended up snuggled together on the same sofa. Wilbur in the middle, Techno on his left, Phil on his right and Tommy somehow spread out across all of their laps, until the movie started to freak him out, that is, because then he had moved over to get some Phil snuggles. </p><p>“I love you guys. Don’t argue any more” The youngest had mumbled out, and with how much they spoiled the kid, if he asked for it, his older brother’s almost always gave him it. This definitely seemed like something they could give him.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>hey btw i could make a post on tumblr or twt about this au if you guys are interested, lmk bc i have a lot of headcanons and stuff for it</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. On the brink of war</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>the dream team talk how to maximize their attacks</p><p>the sleepy boys talk about no more fighting</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>a little shorter than the most resent chapters, this one is gonna push us more into the main story so yknow its necessary but theres not much i can say for it</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As the hazing summer weather beamed through the glass panes of their windows, the oldest of all the Dream kids, Bad, was recleaning out the scar on George’s cheek, making sure it was safe for him to go out for the day without him getting it infected, Covering it up with some gauze and medical tape once he was satisfied it wouldn’t be getting infected. Dream watched with ferocious intensity as he tried to memorise every movement, Bad wasn’t home very often, he had school and other things to deal with, so Dream was left to be the biggest brother most of the time. </p><p>When he was little, he would have jumped at the chance to be in charge! It meant he was strong and trustworthy but recently, despite his confident facade, he did find himself getting worried a lot. Being the oldest meant knowing what to do when everyone else was scared, it meant being the bravest! And while he did have to admit he was a natural born leader, he didn’t always feel prepared. People were unpredictable and it scared him a little that it was his responsibility to judge them now. </p><p>“Look” Bad sighed as he listened to his two youngest brothers rant on and on about how mean their ‘rivals’ were; as much as he hated to see them all upset and bothered like this, he was sure something must have happened to cause such a big feud. Kids don’t just fight for the sake of fighting right? When he was their age, he, Skeppy and their other friend used to just prank people and play random games together. Maybe they did play fight, he couldn’t really remember..</p><p>“Are you sure that nothing happened to provoke them? I believe you muffin heads but maybe try to talk to them about sharing the park next time? Not everything has to be a war y’know……. And keep the gauze on this time! The doctor said you can’t leave it open until it’s fully healed. If you think those boys are actually dangerous I can go talk to their parents while you're gone, stay away from them though okay? I don’t want any more bumps or scratches.” </p><p>As the boys all scrambled to grab their things before running out the door, they each gave Bad a hug, letting him know they’d call if they would be out late. The summer air lingered with an overwhelming feeling of comfort and familiarity as the three kids walked down the street, they hadn’t lived here long at all but they’d already made a name for themselves; they had even already made a group of enemies on the same street as them. This would be fun. </p><p>Walking around in a thick green hoodie and a mask was proving to be more of a challenge that he had initially anticipated though, he wasn’t sure what kind of hell they had moved into but summer was so much more than summer. It was thick thick air, beads of sweat, and absolute torture. He felt his breath fog up and condensate his mask, leaving a coating of wet breath along the inside of the plasticy surface. It was disgusting but he’d rather pass out through heat exhaustion than take it off. Taking off the jumper was fine though, he did need to take extra care when pulling it off though since he couldn’t risk accidentally flashing his face.</p><p>Dream had always enjoyed the more violent games, he was an athletic boy, the most athletic out of all his brothers, and he loved trying to see if they could track him down or catch him. This usually ended up being games of hide and seek or bulldog that got taken too far, the scar on the cheek hadn’t been a big deal for them since they were so used to playing in such a rough manner. To them, this was all a game. They’d have a big war over the den but at the end of the day they’d still be friends, if he was being honest Dream was glad he had found other boys who liked the same kind of games as they did!<br/>
His brother’s were fun but they were getting predictable, he knew how they’d react. He wanted new people to play with! He wanted the chance to team up with George and Sapnap and fight as one. </p><p>This would be fun. They needed a plan though. </p><p>“I think.. I think we need to prove that we deserve to hang out there too. There’s absolutely no reason why a little kid should be allowed there but we can't!” Balling his fist up and hitting it directly into the palm of his hand as he tried to think, Dream led the group in the direction of the woods. </p><p>“Wilbur thinks he can talk about what they want as if we don’t exist! I say we declare war on L’manburg! Who are they to say where we can and cannot go!”<br/>
Sapnap, the youngest of the three but not by much -certainly not as big of an age gap as the sleepy boys had- had yelled out, waving his toy wooden sword around in mock anger. Really, he was a little upset about not being allowed into the park but it would be so much more fulfilling once they had earned their passage into it. </p><p>Dream glanced at his brother and chuckled, George was holding a toy axe as well, himself having a nerf crossbow, which he had saved up all of his pocket money for a whole month to buy. After doing so many dishes to get the extra cash, he was absolutely going to try it out. </p><p>“Dream you’re good at running, I’d say you should snipe them from behind a bush with your crossbow and when they’re weak you run in there. While they’re distracted George and I can charge in from another point. We shouldn’t attack today, George is still wounded and we aren’t prepared. Let’s just scope the scene and find an alternative entrance”</p><p>Admittedly, Dream had a tendency to underestimate his brothers. This was proof enough that Sap could be smart though, it would be an objectively bad idea to attack while they were weakened and the enemy was strong. They only had their ‘weapons’ to defend themselves with, in case the sleepy boys started throwing rocks again.<br/>
In fact, he was still quite surprised that Wilbur even had thrown the rock. He had expected him to be an easy target, he was carrying a guitar around and he was so tall, Dream could definitely push him over if he wanted to play dirty. While it wasn’t ideal they had a tough enemy, he would be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t intrigued to see what would happen next.</p><p>Yes, this game was going to be very fun. </p><p>----</p><p>“Okay everyone!”<br/>
Phil called out, his three brothers all sat on a half-rubble brick wall.<br/>
“So we all know that we’ve already had two people get hurt inside the L’manburg walls. Obviously nobody wanted this to happen, whether it was from losing your temper or just not paying attention to your surroundings, we need to do something about it” Phil clapped his hands together, he knew them well, if he made this into something fun they might actually take his advice. </p><p>“L’manburg is not just a hang out spot, it’s not just a theme park either! It is our great nation! And, like every great nation, we need laws and rulers to keep us safe!”</p><p>Looking around, he saw how their faces perked up, even Techno, who didn’t usually enjoy roleplaying, seemed excited. It was a nice change, especially things were starting to get mundane, considering there wasn’t much of the park left unexplored -Wil had expressed a desire to want to check out the swampy area but Phil immediately shut down that idea, telling him that even if Wil ended up okay, Tommy would copy him and without a doubt get hurt.</p><p>“Wilbur will be your president, while I’m not here he’s going to keep you safe and make any tough decisions. Tommy, you will be the vice president” he had to keep himself from saying this role was just to keep the boy from getting upset at not being chosen for anything cool.<br/>
“Tommy, this is very important, do you think you can handle it?” </p><p>The young boy nodded excitedly, bouncing a little where he was sitting. </p><p>“Okay, Tommy you need to help Wilbur make all the important decisions, and when anybody wants to join L’manburg you need to get Wilbur and then you can be in charge of making them go away” As silly as it was, at least he could trust Tommy to not throw rocks if he was told not to. </p><p>“Finally Techno,”<br/>
“Oh my god, me too?” The teen chuckled<br/>
“Of course, we need our warrior! Where would we be without our brave fighter!”</p><p>“Ah yes, the warrior. Tommy, I eagerly await your command. I’m so ready to fight people” Techno pulled his hair back, tying it at the back in a low ponytail as some small wisps framed his face. It was beautiful, everyone seemed to agree on that -unless they were overly masculine teenage boys- but Techno would kill anyone who dared say so in an instance.<br/>
He seemed to be stifling a little laugh, he was never into acting or theater like his brothers were, while he was little he always preferred playing strategy games rather than make believe ones. That being said, he still loved seeing them happy and even though he doubted he would be doing it nearly as much as they would, he’d make an effort to play along.<br/>
The grin that shot across Tommy’s face was reason enough to roleplay, just a bit. </p><p>“Okay okay so we need laws too! Wilbur, as the president, has already prepared a list” </p><p>Phil sat down on the wall, it was cold and uncomfortable but against the humid air mixed with the slight smell of mildew from the slowly rotting park, it was nice. Last night, he had stayed up late with Wilbur, talking about this idea. If they gave Tommy a new place to hang out inside the park and called it the White house, he’d surely play there instead of doing whatever it is he does on the coasters. </p><p>It still made Phil a little dizzy to think that they had been letting Tommy climb unsupervised while he wasn’t here, hopefully he had the mind to not go too high but knowing his brother, he would have taken the chance to climb higher. </p><p>Wilbur cleared his throat as he got a piece of paper out of his pocket. </p><p>“Dear citizens of L’manburg” </p><p>Tommy giggled, which made Wilbur give him a little smile before he carried on with his speech.</p><p>“We will be a peaceful nation! I intend to rule this land without the need for any more people getting hurt. Any kind of weaponry, including collected rocks, are strictly prohibited inside L’manburg, the only instance in which we fight is if we are under attack! My fellow Sleepy boys, too much blood has been shed on this land, I hope you will all stand with me while I strive to steer this great nation in the direction of being more loving and accepting of our neighbours.” </p><p>Phil chuckled as he watched his brothers, they all seemed so happy, most importantly though, they would finally have a reason to be more careful.</p><p>Hopefully nobody else would get hurt.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>TY FOR READING AGAIN!! &lt;3 ILY ALL<br/>I'm really enjoying writing this so thank you so much for all the kudos and sweet comments bruh &lt;3<br/>ALSO!! this chapter pushes us over 10k words so pog!! im still very new to writing so this is a big thing for me haha</p><p>edit:<br/>heres a headcanon post i made in case you wanna know some more things about the au that i havent said https://tub-bee.tumblr.com/post/632607068374925312/sbi-headcanons-awooga</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. The great war of 'a quiet kid and a toddler'</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The dream team attacks<br/>Wilburs asleep<br/>Phil's busy tommy-proofing the park</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Fuck…</p><p>It was so hot, so humid, that Techno could feel himself swaying where he was standing; his signature red jacket had been tossed aside in a feeble attempt to cool down for just a minute. With Wilbur having fallen asleep on top of  the ticket booth roof and Phil trying to clean out some of the glass and brambles from one of the old gift shops before they let Tommy play in it -the white house needed to be safe after all- Techno was left to watch over Tommy on his own. Having taken on board everything Phil said to them, he managed to keep an eye on his brother the entire time. </p><p>He even climbed up a bit with him, making sure not to go too high and set a bad example, he was still a kid though and it was fun to mess around. He’d keep Tommy safe and have fun doing it, he wouldn’t let Tommy get board enough to warrant him wanting to venture higher.</p><p>“What are the kids in your class like then? They nice to you Toms?” Techno already knew the answer, Tommy could be a bit obnoxious at times but as far as kids would see it, he was miles more ‘normal’ than Techno and Wilbur had been. They probably loved him, that was a nice thought. He loved him too. </p><p>As they sat, feet dangling off a track, that wasn’t too high, as Techno had checked many many times, and was very sturdy, Tommy gave an excited nod. That was good news.<br/>
“Love ‘em, we’re all super good friends! Tubbos my best friend though, he’s way way better than the others” he nodded, as if it was a well known fact that Tubbo was objectively the best, which made Techno chuckle. </p><p>Only now was he realising that he never really spoke to Tommy like this anymore, it was nice. Wilbur was always with him, he needed Wilbur nearby to be able to be calm enough to talk, so it was rare to find a conversation without the brunette at all. At times, he found himself wishing he could be more confident with his verbal abilities, it would be amazing to be like a character from a movie, to be able to just go out and maybe order himself a coffee, talk to a stranger as he waited for the bus. So often he found himself fantasizing about the most mundane things for most people, but really he did crave them a lot. He was working incredibly hard in his speech therapy, there had been so many times where he felt like just giving up, like maybe he could get away with not talking for the rest of his life, but then he’d hear how assertively Wilbur could tell their doctor that he was getting overwhelmed and needed a break and.. It just reminded him of how badly he needed to crack this. </p><p>He couldn’t stay silent forever, not when he wanted to talk so bad.<br/>
Even now, as he sat with his little brother, he was reminded of how badly he needed to get his issues sorted out. It was grim to think about but he knew that if he didn’t have full confirmation Wilbur was close, he wouldn’t be able to communicate with Tommy. </p><p>“Don’t tell the others I’m getting soft but I really love you, you know that right Toms?” </p><p>Tommy giggled and then he nodded.<br/>
Ah, confident as ever.<br/>
Techno was incredibly grateful that Tommy hadn’t turned out like him or Wilbur. It was such a relief, at first he had been so sure that the social issues were hereditary, why else would Wilbur struggle too?<br/>
Recently though, he had figured out that it likely was a mix between his adhd, which was genetics, and the lack of attention he and Wil had gotten while they were little. With Two parents who were constantly out working, babysitters were usually the only people they saw in the day, their parents leaving before they had woken up and arriving back home after they had been put back to bed, it was a bad cycle of them only getting to see them a few minutes a day at most.  </p><p>He wasn’t a psychologist, if he was he probably could have started talking by now, but he guessed Wilbur had likely clutched onto one of the only consistent things, that being him, and he had developed a fear of talking. Out of fear of getting close to temporary people? Out of spite? He didn’t know. </p><p>What he did know though, was that perhaps through the constant praise and adoration he and his brothers had always given Tommy, they’d somehow prevented him from turning out like them. </p><p>Tommy could be happy, he didn’t need to fear random things. </p><p>Techno was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of someone throwing fun-snaps along the entrance to L’manburg. Fucking Dream Team, why couldn’t they leave them alone? And what was best was that the only people available to confront them were Tommy or Techno, a seven year old or a mute. </p><p>Nudging Tommy, he glanced towards the entrance knowingly, Wilbur was a lot better at reading him but Tommy and Phil were pretty decent too. After a couple knowing glances at each other, seemingly an entire silent conversation taking place, the two brothers started to climb down the coaster and back to safety. Techno would have been happy enough to just hide and wait for Wilbur to wake up or maybe Phil to come out, he could definitely take any one of them in a fight but he didn’t want to. </p><p>What he did want was for Wilbur to wake up and come do the talking because although he loved Tommy, he didn’t want to be represented by him. </p><p>He just couldn’t get that though; the second Tommy’s feet touched the floor he dashed into the centre of the entrance way, causing Techno to dash out of him, Dream visible despite the fact that he was hiding behind a bush. Huh. The idiot must have ran out of Fun snaps since he wasn’t throwing any more. </p><p>“This is war! It’s war! Your tyranny over L’manburg cannot last forever, sleepy boys!” </p><p>Dream stood up quickly, his green hoodie tied around his shoulders as he stood in a white tshirt and grey basketball shorts. As the blonde raised his crossbow, pointed directly at Tommy, Techno couldn’t help but wonder just how he was planning to aim through the small eye holes in that mask. </p><p>“You’re dead! You hear me! We’ll win this war.” </p><p>And with that he fired two shots, the foam bullets bouncing off of himself and Tommy pathetically as they watched in confusion. What was his problem?<br/>
Seemingly, Tommy had been shot on the cheek, the boy was rubbing it with small tears in his eyes. Being hit with something, even if it was a toy bullet, must still be a shock when it hits you directly in the face. </p><p>Techno wanted to comfort him, but he couldn’t, not when Dream was standing mere feet away. Instead he opted to run his thumb over Tommy’s cheek then taking his hand as a sign he understood that he wasn’t happy - he didn’t know why or how but holding his brother’s hand’s hand started to be the thing guaranteed to let them know he cared when he couldn’t talk. It was dumb but at least he had a way to communicate it now. </p><p>“NOW!”</p><p>Right as he was distracted, he heard Dream yell out, causing him to snap back to reality, standing in front of Tommy protectively, only to realise Sapnap and George were scuttling in from a hole in the wall. Techno wanted to yell out, he wanted Phil to come, he felt scared and overwhelmed, logically he could take any of these boys physically but he was scared. This was new to him, they were new people, and he had someone to protect! </p><p>It wouldn’t be so bad if Wilbur was awake.</p><p>Wilbur could yell and get Phil to come and Phil would do something. </p><p>The two boys were charging towards them now, Dream still had that stupid toy crossbow pointed at them too. God why were they so awful?!</p><p>“Give it up Techno!”<br/>
Sapnap yelled, waving a toy sword, it looked like it was made of wood. He wasn’t holding it right, Techno had noted to himself, if he were to try and hit someone with that he wouldn’t get much force.<br/>
The other boy, George -He only remembered his name because that was the one Wilbur hurt- was carrying a wooden axe, it didn’t look sharp and the handle was painted in a way that made it clear it was also from a toy set, probably the same set that the sword was from.  </p><p>That made it all the more clear that they were bad kids. They wanted to hurt them.</p><p>He repositioned himself in front of Tommy as the boys drew closer. </p><p>Sapnap had tried to hit him first, he was able to block that with his arm, then came George with his axe. The boy jumped up and swung as he came down, even though it was blunt, he had still been hit hard with it and it fucking ached. </p><p>Techno didn’t want to get violent but he would protect Tommy no matter what, he knew Phil said no more fights but as he saw Sapnap swing the sword, the wooden blade brushing past Tommy forcefully and leaving a splinter in his arm, he couldn’t hold back his anger. He gently turned Tommy around, nodding towards the ticket booth, before turning back to the two boys in front of him, shaking his head as if to tell them not to even think about going near him. </p><p>Techno had faith in Tommy, he knew he’d be able to get Wilbur, that’s why he had to be quick here.<br/>
In all honesty, he didn’t care about George, he hadn’t hurt Tommy, but Sapnap had and so he felt no shame as he pushed him hard, letting him bounce on the sandy dirt of the warm summer’s day. He didn’t want to start an actual fight, Phil would kill him if he actually punched someone but pushing wasn’t that bad. </p><p>“Okayyy Okay kids” </p><p>ThankGod,ThankGod,ThankGod </p><p>He heard Phil’s voice as he jogged over to Techno, Sapnap and George; by now Dream was standing in the open, by the entrance to L’manburg, as if waiting for his brother’s to finish up their game since his part was over.<br/>
Techno hated that they seemed to think of this as a joke. They didn’t need L’manburg, they just didn’t like that they couldn’t have it. In his opinion, they were just spoiled rotten, why was their discomfort a source of their amusement? </p><p>No matter how he thought of it, Techno couldn’t understand their thought process.<br/>
Even though he had already pushed Sapnap over, Techno was still boiling over with anger, strong tension dripping from any motion he made. </p><p>“Boys get up” Phil sighed as he helped Sapnap off the ground, as well as George who had got down to make sure he was okay.<br/>
“Techno we don’t push people..Okay I’m sorry about him, you head back home now”</p><p>The blonde ushered the boys out of the park as fast as he could, trying to be polite all the way, even though they had been nothing but rude to them.</p><p>…</p><p>Everything was silent for a minute. </p><p>“Techno-Blade Reid, How many times do I have to tell you violence isn’t okay?” </p><p>Okay, he used his full name, fuck shit. Phil rarely got this mad but it was obvious Techno had messed up. He hated making Phil mad, he never wanted to yell back, it always just made him disappointed in himself. Everybody knew that Phil was a nice guy and to be the one that forces him to lose composure? It felt horrible. </p><p>“Phil I-”</p><p>“No no! Listen for a minute okay? How hard actually is it to just talk? Why couldn’t you just call out to me? You know I would have got rid of them for you! Tommy said you had a sword fight, Techno, a sword fight! Did you even realise that Tommy got a splinter? What if that gets infected?”</p><p>Techno felt simultaneously that his heart had been stepped on and that he wanted to puke. It hurt, so, so bad, to hear his brother say these things. With the once comforting summer heat choking him up and threatening tears, Techno crossed his arms against his chest, walking directly to Wilbur. </p><p>Wilbur never would have said something like that, not even out of anger. </p><p>“Phil, I wanted to… You think I didn't realise Tommy got hurt? Why else would I have shoved him?! They attacked us!” He had to stop for a moment, getting a bit choked up, he had been so relieved to hear Phil’s voice, he really hadn’t expected this. </p><p>“No, fuck, Tech’ I didn’t mean that… I don't know why I said it. I promise I didn’t mean it” </p><p>Phil’s face had contorted slightly, he looked pained and guilty. Techno was well aware that he had just been frustrated and went for the easiest jab possible, he just hadn’t been expecting it. </p><p>No matter how much he told himself that Phil didn’t actually think any of that, no matter how much he told himself that his brother still loved him despite his speech issues, he still couldn’t help but find himself being hurt. </p><p>He knew what Phil said hadn’t been on purpose but it still stung. </p><p>“Take Tommy home and get his splinter out, me and Wil are gonna stay back here for a bit” Voice weak and mellow, he pushed the words out as if it was a physical struggle to talk right now.</p><p>He heard Phil sigh, the one he did when something was really hard.<br/>
“Okay, I love you Techno, and you Wilbur.” </p><p>Techno nodded<br/>
“I love you too.. I just need to be alone for a minute”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>AHHH THAT HURT<br/>they still love eachother tho, had to make sure that was clear, also cant have you guys forgetting that Phil is 16 in this and tbh everyone says dumb shit in the heat of the moment when youre a teenager<br/>They'll talk it out next chapter i promise, Phil's just frustrated with all the pressure put on him to keep them safe</p><p>ps some of you might have missed it bc it was edited into the notes of the last chapter earlier today but i made a post about all the different things for this au on my tumblr<br/>https://tub-bee.tumblr.com/post/632607068374925312/sbi-headcanons-awooga</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Talk it out</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dream recounts what happened today to Bad and their mom<br/>Wilbur comforts Techno</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>shorter chapter today, only 1704 words grr, it's another in between one though because it felt like i would be changing scenes too much if i added the next part in during this one</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dream snickered as he leaned back in his chair, a half eaten ham and cheese sandwich sitting idly on his plate. He had his mask lifted up so it sat atop his head, showing his freckled cheeks and and reddish cheeks. </p><p>“That was a fun game, they were playing along this time”</p><p>He reached for a packet crisps, only to drop his hand and pick the sandwich back up when Bad gave him a disapproving look; they all wanted to make Bad proud, he wasn’t around often anymore but when he was here it was great.<br/>
It didn’t really feel like home when he was off at school. </p><p>Playing with the sleepy boys had been fun though, he mulled over the events of the day as he chewed on the childish meal, the sun was still high in the sky and he doubted it was past 2pm at all.<br/>
Phil didn’t seem like he wanted to play, for a moment Dream wondered if Phil just didn’t like playing anymore, he was the oldest afterall, but he quickly shook the thought from his mind. Why else would he still turn up to L’manburg with his brothers?<br/>
No, Phil definitely enjoyed it, he was probably just tired today, sometimes even his own brothers didn’t like playing Manhunt if they had had a long day. </p><p>He remembered buying the fun snaps, it had been a little nerve wracking but he needed them for the plan to work! He had had to lie about how old he was for the shopkeeper to give them to him, he didn’t ask for ID though so he guessed the old man running the place also didn’t see the point in having an age limit to buy a toy. While they were going through their plan first, Sapnap had said he wanted to blow it up.</p><p>Obviously they couldn't do that. </p><p>And so they decided on fun snaps and their ‘weapons’. At least this way they’d still get shocked by the noise of the snaps going off anyway, it wasn’t like they wanted to cause any real harm, he didn’t want to lose any more potential friends because of the ways he had fun. </p><p>“We actually got into L’manburg today” Sap laughed, hair dusted with sandy dirt from when he had been pushed to the floor.<br/>
His sandwich had been toasted to make the cheese melty and he was dipping it in a Tomato cup-a-soup. As far as Dream was concerned, that was single handedly the worst food combination ever made and he deserved to be pushed over for eating like that. </p><p>“I hope you guys aren’t playing too rough out there, those Reid kids have a littl’un right?” </p><p>Nodding, Dream shoved the rest of his lunch into his mouth, chewing it as much as he could before giving up and just speaking with his mouth full anyways.<br/>
“Yeah Tommys like really small, we aren’t playing too rough though Ma, they’re cool with it, I promise! Even Sap and George like them”</p><p>Once she had finished preparing her own lunch, she sat with her kids; they were so rowdy, it would be a straight lie if she said she didn’t worry about their safety sometimes but she supposed boys would just be boys, no amount of sports clubs or extracurricular activities had ever quenched their need to run about and hit each other with sticks.</p><p>What was fun about hitting each other, she had no idea, but hopefully they’d grow out of it before they seriously hurt themselves or someone else </p><p>“That’s nice to hear then, I’m glad you boys are making new friends, I know it can be difficult adapting to new places-” </p><p>“Nah mum it’s easy!” Sapnap had cut her off, hand in a bag of crisps since he had finished his meal, despite how much Bad tried to influence healthy eating decisions.  </p><p>“That’s nice sweetheart, some people find it hard though! Hey! You know what could be cute? If you take Bad down to meet your buddies, you said they had an older brother around his age too right?” </p><p>Dream groaned, feigning annoyance as he glanced over to his brother, while like Phil, Bad still cared about them a whole lot, they didn’t really have the almost-replacement-parent kind of dynamic that the sleepy bois had with their older sibling. He didn’t really understand that, Bad was two years older than him and the way they thought and rationalised things was about the same level, so why did his new friends seem to treat their older brother like a grown up? </p><p>Even though they were a bit weird, they were nice and they were fun to play with, so eventually he nodded, it would be so much fun having Bad there to fight with them. It felt like it had been ages since they all played together. </p><p>“I think they’re playing something else now, we can all go tomorrow after school if you want” </p><p>With a shrug and a flippant smile, Bad had at last agreed to go meet his mischievous brother’s new friends. If the scar on George’s cheek was anything to go off though, it seemed like they were a lot more ill-disciplined than his boys were.<br/>
Or at least that’s what he liked to think. </p><p>--------</p><p>“Phil didn’t mean to hurt you” Wilbur mumbled as they walked hand-in-hand to the old pool where they spent so much of their time together, gently lowering himself in and then helping Techno in afterwards.<br/>
The two sat idly against the curved wall, sitting in comfortable silence as Wilbur waited for Techno to sort his thoughts out. </p><p>“It still hurts” With a voice as quiet and weak as his was right now, anyone who had bothered to stay around long enough to hear his voice, absolutely wouldn't think this was him.<br/>
The assertive, confident way he normally would speak to his brothers long forgotten as he gingerly swallowed the lump in his throat. </p><p>He felt invalidated, ignored, humiliated.<br/>
Why did Phil have to bring up the one thing he couldn’t argue with him on? He had got hit harder than Tommy! Why did he only care about Tommy? </p><p>With a heavy chest and an aching arm, he rested his head on his brother’s shoulder, just wanting some comfort but not really knowing how to put his feelings into words. Thankfully, Wilbur seemed to recognise this rare moment and gently wrapped an arm around him. </p><p>“Do you think….” He trailed off into a murmur after that, prompting Wilbur to remind him he needed to use his words<br/>
“Do you think that deep down...maybe Phil thinks I’m weird too? It’s weird to be this shy isn’t it? I’m supposed to have grown out of it by now right?”</p><p>His voice sounded frantic and panicked, breaths punctuated his sentences as he spilled his emotions into the empty pool. Gentle hands pulled him into a hug and he was tight against Wilbur’s chest, being reminded once again that even if he felt bad himself, his family would always save the day. </p><p>“...well I think objectively it is a bit weird that we’re both this attached, and we should be able to be able to do these things that other kids our age can but just because what we have is a little funky doesn’t mean you're weird. If it was normal we wouldn’t have a speech therapist but I don't think it's bad, the other kids in our classes always talk about hating their siblings and stuff. I’m glad none of us are like that.” Wilbur tried his very best to articulate how he felt, a lot of the feelings he wanted to explain, he didn’t have the words to describe, and so he was left with small comparisons and metaphors.<br/>
He didn’t bother saying them, if he was struggling with saying them he might accidentally say something that could hurt his brother more. </p><p>“I don't think Phil thinks you're weird either. I think he’s frustrated, he works so hard to make sure we’re all okay and we don’t always show him that we appreciate it. I think maybe he’s scared for you, he knows it’s hard for you to talk and with him getting mad it probably came out wrong. He probably wants you to get better really bad and I bet it’s hard for him to watch you struggle and not be able to help. That doesn’t make what he said okay but I do think you should talk to him and try to find out why he said what he said”</p><p>Techno nodded, he felt a bit guilty for being so mad at Phil now, he cared so much about them and he had got his little brother hurt.</p><p>Even though he felt guilty, he still felt hurt though and maybe it was childish but he didn't care. He wanted to strop and huff and ignore everyone.<br/>
Before today he didn’t even realise it was possible to want to fall out of the earth and want to be cuddled by all his favourite people, simultaneously.</p><p>“I think you’ll feel better if you talk to Phil though, you wont need to make up theories on why he said it anymore than you already have.”</p><p>Another nod, he knew confrontation was inevitable but he wanted to sit here a bit longer,  with the shade from the trees and low hanging vines, to the roaring hot sun, it just felt so much better to try and think through his feelings here rather than having to think it all out while he was actually having the conversation with Phil. </p><p>“It’s hard” An almost exasperated sigh left his lips “I know Tommy’s just the priority because he’s the youngest. I love him too, so so much, but he didn’t even check to see if I got hurt though. He saw I wasn’t able to protect Tommy and he got mad."</p><p>“Today, Phil was tired and stressed and he said some really stupid things but Tech’ I can’t tell you what he meant by them, I’m telling you all these questions would be solved so much faster if we just went and spoke to him.”</p><p>“..okay let's go”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. your name goes well with pizza and forgiveness</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Techno talks to Phil</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Techno took a deep breath as he opened the front door, by now the sun was setting, it was about the time they would normally start heading home from the park but today wasn’t like other days. How could he stay and have fun when two thirds of the people who he loved most were at home? How could he have fun knowing Phil was probably beating himself up over what had happened?</p><p>Of course Techno’s heart still ached, his throat felt dry and he had a pit at the bottom of his stomach that craved for satisfaction. He needed to know why Phil had said those things, he needed to know if he was actually that annoying, he needed to know if Phil really thought he was just choosing not to speak. </p><p>When he had finally found him, Wilbur’s hand clasped in his own, not wanting to risk letting go in case something bad would happen with him too, Phil was sitting on the sofa. Even though the tv was on, playing some random game show, he didn’t seem to watch it. One hand was clasped over his temples and the other was rested on top of his phone, presumably so he could know right away if Wilbur or Techno messaged him. <br/>The twins stood silently in the doorway, neither one wanting to make a noise. </p><p>Techno felt horrible. Phil looked horrible. The amount of guilt he felt for being the reason he felt so bad was immeasurable. </p><p>“Wil, is it okay for you to wait in the hallway?” <br/>His voice was almost a whisper but it was enough to break Phil out of his trance-like state. Wilbur seemed to think about it for a second before nodding, sometimes on bad days Wil couldn’t bear to leave his side at all, even insisting on scooching in beside him at bedtime. Today wasn’t one of those days though, Wilbur wasn’t the one who had got upset.</p><p>Once Wil was outside and the door was shut, Techno went and sat silently besides Phil. He wasn’t good with words, it was ironic since he was so good at English in school but on the spot he just couldn’t set his thoughts up to form the words he needed. It probably wasn’t even to do with his anxiety issues, he just couldn’t think on the spot. For a moment he considered bringing it up with his and Wilbur’s therapist but quickly decided it wasn’t worth it since in movies and tv shows so many people without issues said they struggled with it too.</p><p>Maybe quick thinking was just a skill he needed to practice.</p><p>“Are you okay Tech’” Phil finally broke his silence as he stared straight down at their feet</p><p>“Been better but yeah I’m alright. You okay Phil” </p><p>“Been better too” </p><p>After a brief sigh from Phil, the room fell back into silence, neither of them daring to look the other in the eye. </p><p>“I put Tommy to bed, the splinter wasn’t too bad. I don’t think Mum and Dad will be home until eleven at least so i can get you and Wil something else to eat, Tommy had a ready meal from the fridge” <br/>“It’s okay” God he felt so guilty, why was he always putting pressure on his brother? He should have come home with them, he should have helped with Tommy. He needed to apologise to Tommy too, he should have never left him. </p><p>He never wanted Tommy to find out just how messy family could get. </p><p>“I don’t think I’m that hungry, I’ll make myself something if I need” he was lying, it was so obvious and yet he didn’t care. He just wanted to stop being such a burden, he needed to stop putting so much strain on his brother. </p><p>“I'll help get Tommy ready for school in the morning and I’ll try extra hard in speech therapy but Phil you know I don’t choose this right? You know I wanted to call for you right? I kept thinking ‘Phil’s gonna get here soon’ and when you got there I was so happy, I knew you’d be able to handle it. Phil I’m so sorry, I know I’m a lot and i can be difficult to deal with but i promise i’m trying to get better” </p><p>The words kept coming and coming, they were spilling out of him like a broken faucet but he needed them out, he needed to be honest right now or else he’d never feel right.</p><p>“God fuck, Techno” Phil sounded hurt, like he was watching a puppy die or something. More than anything, he didn’t sound happy.  <br/>“Tech’ I know you can’t help it, I know you would have called for me if you could have. I’m so so sorry if i ever made you feel like you need to apologise; what happened today was completely my own fault” </p><p>For the second time that day, he was pulled into a hug but he didn’t mind it. Although he was never one for useless affection, he didn’t like greeting hugs or random cuddles, sometimes Wilbur’s clinginess even pissed him off but he could hardly hold that against him, he knew it wasn’t his fault, he loved affection at times when he really needed it.  </p><p>“I shouldn’t have yelled at you, I got so worried about them hurting Tommy that it didn’t even occur to me that it was you who I was directing my anger at. It sounds disgusting to say out loud but I just know I chose something that would cut deep and i...i just said it. I didn’t even think about it. I was so upset that Tommy got such a minor injury, I felt guilty for not being there earlier and I just- Fuck Techno I’m so sorry- I felt guilty for not being there so I took it out on the reason I wasn’t there” </p><p>Techno nodded, it hurt to hear, he didn’t like having to face the fact that Phil struggled with things too, he didn’t like knowing Phil just jabbed at what was easiest. </p><p>“Tech’ I need you to know I didn’t mean what I said, i’m well aware you couldn't call, I don’t see anything about you as a problem, I think you’re amazing and strong and honestly I’m jealous of how well you can handle things, I just try to act as close to an adult as I can and pretend to know what I’m doing, you always seem to have things figured out” </p><p>Okay, so maybe he hadn’t been expecting that. Why was Phil, of all people, jealous of him? Phil, who rose up and took care of his younger brothers when their parents worked insane hours to keep a roof over their heads, Phil, who despite all the tantrums and tears, had never once given up on his brothers, Phil, who showed Techno what it meant to love someone with all your heart, without it even needing to be romantic love. <br/>Phil, who had done all those amazing things, was jealous of Techno, who couldn’t talk to anyone outside of a few select people. </p><p>It made absolutely no sense to him.  </p><p>“..Okay” </p><p>Pathetic. Phil had poured his heart out but he was struggling to form a sentence, he just needed a moment to sort his thoughts out, Which were graciously provided by Phil, who sat and smiled patiently as Techno organised the words in his mind. </p><p>“I think you’re probably the kindest person I've ever met. I know it’s a lot taking care of us all, and you don't need to be humble about it because I know we do put you under a lot of stress, but we all love you so much and you’ve had such a positive impact on all of us. Me and Wil are both kinda messed up but I dread to think what we could have been like if we never had you, and Tommy’s so lucky he has a proper role model. I’m gonna be so grateful forever that he’s..normal”</p><p>The hug loosened a bit and Phil tucked some of Techno’s hair behind his ear, he was biting his lip and his brows were furrowed in thought, all the while his eyes still seemed kind and loving, showing Techno just how important this conversation was. </p><p>“Tech’ I know what you mean but just because Tommy doesn’t have anything like what you two have, that doesn’t make you any less normal.”<br/>He sucked in a breath and seemed to think over his next few words carefully<br/>“Listen, as long as you aren’t being hurt by it, I have absolutely no problem with our house being a little different to others just to keep you two comfortable. I’m well aware you’ll need to be over this by the time you’re trying to find work but that’s not something for me to try and force you into. You’re still 13 and leaving home is a long way away so as long as you’re making a little progress, I’ll stay off your back.” </p><p>He was being hugged again and for the first time since the incident earlier that day, he didn’t feel angry or upset, instead he felt loved. </p><p>“I love you Phil” He finally choked out after what felt like an eternity of being silent <br/>“I love you so much, you do so much for us”</p><p>“I love you too Tech’, I do everything I do because I love you, you mean the world to me. I really hope you can forgive me for what i said, genuinely I know i shouldn’t have said it” </p><p>Techno nodded, burying his face back into Phil’s shoulder as he grinned. He had the best family, hands down. </p><p>“Of course I forgive you, can I get Wilbur in here? He’s been waiting in the hallway this entire time”</p><p>Phil snorted at that, he had assumed Wil had gone to bed but now that he thought about it that didn’t make sense considering Techno was down here. Before he could answer, Techno had already gone to the door to get Wilbur, who latched right onto him, probably since they had been apart for so long. </p><p>“I say we watch a film” The oldest grinned at his two younger brothers “come here you two, <br/>I’ll order a pizza, you two choose the film” </p><p>In the end they watched ‘your name’, apparently Techno hadn’t seen it, which shocked Wilbur beyond belief since it was his favourite movie. Their interactions were quite sweet honestly, as Phil waited with an ear out for the door, he watched as Wil would get excited and almost spoil scenes as soon as they started to play, only stopping when Techno would gently pull him back to the seat. </p><p>The pizza had arrived about an hour into the movie, since Tommy was in bed and these two were both pretty mature, he let them eat in the living room, sighing in content, to himself when he realised they had solved today's problems in a fairly grown-up way. It made him feel like he was doing something right.  </p><p>Eventually Wilbur and Techno fell asleep, resting against each other. No doubt they’d wake up with a sore back but Phil neither had the heart to wake them or the muscles to move them, so once the empty pizza box was thrown away, he tucked them under a blanket, left the tv on in low volume, and turned off the light, making his way to bed himself. </p><p>Families could get messy, but they’d always clean up after themselves. </p><p>Bonus: </p><p>“Tommy please sit still” </p><p>Techno sighed as he attempted to comb through his brother’s hair and make him look presentable. After everything from last night, Techno had decided to help out more, not from guilt but from a place of love for his older brother. He didn’t want Phil to get to a place that would cause him to lash out since there was no way he could be happy like that. </p><p>That being said, Tommy was incredibly difficult this early in the morning.<br/>Honestly Techno didn’t blame him. It was incredibly early. </p><p>“Tommy you can have the chocolate cereal you like if you just sit still and let me comb your hair”</p><p>That worked.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>ty sm for reading!!! you are all very pogchamp!!!!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Lunch buddies and big brothers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Wilbur and Techno make a new friend.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>School lunch was probably the worst part about having to go to school. </p><p>Now don't get him wrong, Wilbur understood that the vast majority of students didn’t have lives like theirs and wouldn’t get their dynamics. What he didn’t understand was why it should be okay to bully people for doing things they were ignorant of. </p><p>No, bullying was too strong of a word to use here, they had been bullied before and this was a step up from that, it was slightly closer to being able to fit in with social groups. <br/>If Wilbur had to describe how they were treated, he’d say they were simply treated like they were invisible. </p><p>Yes, they were still part of the group that got shoulder barged in crowded hallways, but it wasn’t because anyone had any substantial reason to hate them, they were just not noticed. They were invisible. <br/>How could you blame anyone for barging into someone when you didn’t even know they were there to begin with?</p><p>No, they weren’t part of the list of people who got their trays smacked, anymore, but being the only two with their trays still intact whilst everyone around them panicked in a mountain of spoiled lunches was terrifying in it’s only way.</p><p>How was it possible to be invisible and have all eyes on them at the same time?</p><p>The result of this ‘silent treatment’ was an overwhelming feeling of isolation while they were at school. While he and Techno did have a few friends, some from their class and some from clubs their parents had made them go to over the years in a desperate attempt to get them to socialise; the ones from their class, however, almost never spoke to them during school time though. <br/>Wilbur decided that they couldn’t be blamed for that. <br/>Who would want to hang out with the ‘clingy kid’ and the ‘quiet kid’ anyways? </p><p>While all the lunches and breaks alone never outwardly bothered Techno, Wilbur knew that deep down he wished for a group of close friends just as much as Wilbur did, he was just a lot more introverted so he didn’t really have the intense crave for it that he, himself, had. You see, Techno had a bad habit of pushing people away while Wilbur needed as many people as possible, while both stemmed from a fear of being abandoned, this situation wasn’t good for either. </p><p>“Hey can I sit here?” </p><p>Wilbur was pulled out of his sulk as he heard the distinct sound of a British accent, he looked up and sure enough, the new boy was standing at their table. Only once Techno had given a passive shrug, Wilbur nodded and gestured to a chair. </p><p>“You guys looked nice, my old school got shut down so I had to transfer here, is it nice? Everyone seems very...unique”</p><p>The twins shrugged, they weren’t really the best couple to ask if this new kid just wanted to hear about the school. <br/>As Wilbur watched the boy he took mental notes of a few things: One, his voice was super deep, a little like Techno’s, and he seemed to pronounce everything perfectly, he seemed very smart. Two, He had a little flag pin on his backpack, Wilbur guessed he must be foreign, even if he did have a British accent, or maybe the flag meant something else. And Three, he had a burger king crown placed Triumphantly upon his head. <br/>Looking down at his lunch explained where he had got the crown from, seriously who’s parents bought their kid’s burger king for lunch?!</p><p>Wilbur thought he looked stupid and he was only slightly jealous of his lunch. </p><p>“My name’s Eret, by the way!” </p><p>The boy smiled and shook both Techno and Wilbur’s hands, he seemed very calm and mature, Wilbur noted. He also seemed wealthy but maybe he just had Burger king with him because it was his first day at a new school and his parents wanted to give him something nice, all Wil knew was that his family wouldn’t be able to afford that for lunch every day. </p><p>“Yeah uh..” Wilbur cleared his throat as he spoke for the first time “Yeah I’m Wilbur, call me Wil though, and this is Techno-Blade but only call him Techno”</p><p>“Okay well hello Wil and Techno, I’m happy to meet you! Why are you sitting alone by the way? You’re nice enough”</p><p>Wilbur practically rolled his eyes into the back of his head, this guy seemed so righteous, like he was going to be yet another popular kid who wanted to treat him and his brother like they were animals, like he was going to coo and aww at them and baby them whenever there was something one of them couldn’t deal with. It had happened so many times and Wilbur felt horrible because he knew that every time those kids were just misinformed, they were good but ignorant people. They were always the ones who noticed they were alone but the lack of education about these kinds of problems caused a lot of them to think they were like scared little puppies who needed protection. </p><p>“Well you see, Eret” Wilbur sighed, his voice condescending as he suddenly decided they didn’t need him as a friend. <br/>“Nobody wants to be seen being friends with the clingy kid and the quiet kid. So if you want any chance at all to make some friends here you shouldn’t sit with us”</p><p>Eret seemed a little taken aback by that, he clearly hadn’t been expecting the hostility but he supposed he had struck a nerve with his question, looking back in hindsight he should have known not to ask it. </p><p>“..okay..well I don’t really care about Popularity, a few good friends are better than a hundred fake ones right?”<br/>The boy shoved the last of his burger in his mouth and finished chewing before he spoke<br/>“If it means anything, I don’t see any problem with being quiet or being clingy. And.. I’m guessing if nobody wants to hang out with you that’s pretty lonely right? Well I’m lonely too. I have no friends here. So what do you say? If friends is too much right now, we can just be lunch buddies”</p><p>Wilbur scans the boy with his eyes. Eret’s been nice to them, he didn’t question why Techno wasn’t talking even once, he didn’t gloat about having a burger king lunch. After a cautionary glance to his brother, Wilbur nods <br/>“Okay. Lunch buddies” </p><p>--------<br/>--------</p><p> </p><p>So maybe school wasn’t so bad, he had been able to understand all the work during the final two periods and the weather wasn’t bad either. It was like they’d got ten times luckier after meeting Eren? Eret? <br/>They’d only met him once! How was he supposed to remember his name? </p><p>Approaching L’manburg, the first thing they saw was Phil very carefully helping Tommy down off a roof. Wilbur consciously decided that he wouldn’t ask how he got up there. </p><p>“How was school?” </p><p>Phil sighed as he tried to clean all the mud off the youngest brother’s uniform, it was no use though, it would need to be cleaned as soon as they got home. </p><p>“We made a friend Phil, one that’ll actually talk to us in school”<br/>Placing his hands on his hips, Techno gloated about this great achievement, even though he hadn’t really been the one to do any of the talking.<br/>Even so, it was an achievement, they were making progress. </p><p>“Wait for real?” <br/>Phil grinned and ran over to the two, giving them a big hug, which was quickly joined in on by Tommy who followed Phil towards them and cuddled into them as well. </p><p>To keep him from running off while they were all distracted, Phil picked up Tommy and carried him on his hip, thankfully the boy always seemed to love being carried so he just seemed to giggle and chatter about random things, trying to tell Wil and Techno every single thing he had done that day in a single breath.<br/>Phil honestly wondered whether Tommy would grow out of being about to be picked up or if he’d realise he was only being carried to stop him running off first, either way when that day finally comes he’d need a new solution to the boys everlasting energy. </p><p>“Tell me about it! Are they nice? You should have them over for dinner one of the days” Phil grinned as they walked towards a drained fountain, sitting on the edge like a fence, Tommy happily atop Phil’s lap. </p><p>“If they’re not nice, tell me and I can stab them!”</p><p>“Tommy! Who did you learn that from?”</p><p>“...Okay anyway, he’s called Eret, he’s a bit weird but he seems nice. I think he’s like foreign or something because he had a pin with some flag on-”</p><p>“Wilbur- Oh my god you Idiot, that was a bi pin”</p><p>Phil watched as the twins made a shared recount of what had happened, butting in every five minutes to correct each other about how it had really happened. <br/>Proud was an understatement, Phil could physically feel his heart swell as he listened to them talk about this kid. All he had ever wanted for them was a happy life, school life had always been something they were extremely passive about, it made him so glad the two had someone at school they could look forward to seeing. </p><p>“You know I’m really pleased with you two, you’re doing so well. Make sure you’re nice to that boy though”</p><p>“Hey Phil did you know that I have lots of friends too?” <br/>Tommy had propped himself up onto his knees and was looking around his older brothers, clearly not liking that the attention wasn’t on him anymore now that Wil and Techno were back. </p><p>“Tommy! Vice president of L’Manburg, Of course you are super popular! You’re the greatest ever!”<br/>Techno chuckled as he bent forwards and tickled Tommy's arms, making him squirm all about. </p><p>It was becoming an awfully common occurrence now, the dream team were back and they weren’t even trying to be sneaky this time. </p><p>Wilbur gave George a death glare, who was holding the hand of another boy who he hadn’t seen before, he looked about Phil’s age honestly. Wondering if they had brought their big brother to try and fight, Wilbur pulled Tommy into his lap and gestured for Phil to deal with the ‘dream team’.</p><p>He hated that he was actually getting used to calling them by their team name. </p><p>“Yeah no, What’s going on?” </p><p>Phil was quick to get up, walking towards the others. The younger ones -eg. Everyone except from this new boy- seemed to know him as ‘the responsible one’ by now and so they scowled when they saw him. Looking at them, Phil was sure it was them being little brats because he wouldn’t let them fight his brothers but really they just didn’t like that Phil so often ended their ‘game’. </p><p>“Hey! You must be Phil!” </p><p>Despite his immediate intimidating stature, this guy seemed overwhelmingly positive, he even pulled Phil into a hug upon greeting him. </p><p>Phil didn’t trust him, not one bit. </p><p>Nobody was this happy. </p><p>“Hey so my brothers have been talking about how they’ve been playing with your bunch recently, I just wanted to talk to you about why George has a scar on his face now” </p><p>He gestured to the boy beside him, presumably why he had been holding his hand. It had been meant as a friendly way to ask about what had been going on, as his family he deserved to know if his brother got into a fight right? </p><p>That’s not the way Phil took it though, he had already been distrusting of this weird overly intimidating, yet very positive, guy from the start. He didn’t even know his name and yet he had already been hugged by him. No doubt this was him trying to start a fight about the scar, he had every right to be concerned, he would be incredibly concerned if one of his brothers came home with a bloody cheek. </p><p>What this guy didn’t know though, was that Phil had every intention of defending his brothers.</p><p>Even the rock, while it was wrong to throw it, Wilbur had been provoked.</p><p>These kids were definitely rotten.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>ty for reading!!!! sorry for the cliff hanger lol<br/>ily all<br/>also word count because some people like knowing: 2064</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. boys will be bugs</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Phil has a chat with Bad + Tommy and Phil cooking show time babyyy</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hey so my brothers have been talking about how they’ve been playing with your bunch recently, I just wanted to talk to you about why George has a scar on his face now”</p><p>That’s the question he had been dreading. No doubt it would test his love for his brothers, but not in the way the boys would be expecting, letting Wilbur get away with violence in retaliation to words wasn’t loving. Letting him go down that path was the opposite of loving and he knew that even though right now Wil would prefer him to take his side and fight endlessly for his innocence, the right thing to do would be to talk to Bad normally. </p><p>Phil knew it would do no good to get mad, obviously, he loved his brothers more than life itself but he had to make them be responsible for their actions at some point. Even though he hated doing it, he knew he shouldn't defend them all the time, no matter how much he wanted to. How else were they ever going to learn right from wrong?</p><p>However, that didn’t mean he was planning on letting the Dream team get away with attacking Techno and Tommy! He couldn’t logically defend Wilbur’s rock-throwing antics but he could confront Bad on what his brothers had done, having to remember to remind himself that they were just kids and even if he didn’t like how they were treating his brothers, they’d eventually grow out of it. <br/>Phil knew he’d made his own fair share of mistakes that made him seem like an asshole at times.</p><p>“Listen, I can’t make excuses for them, what Wilbur did wasn’t the right thing at all but please just let me explain things okay?”</p><p>The boy’s older brother nodded, a polite smile gracing his lips. Phil couldn’t tell if that was a good sign or not, he still didn’t even know his name so he decided it was too early to tell.</p><p>“Wilbur is..protective” He mulled his words out, not wanting to expose his brothers’ weaknesses and insecurities in front of a practical stranger, he needed to choose what he said carefully.<br/>“He’s struggled with people leaving him for a very long time and so when he has people who he loves and cares about, that he knows won't leave, he’ll do anything in his power to protect them. Techno is Wilbur’s favourite person ever, he can’t go anywhere without him, he really loves Tommy too, he’ll do whatever it takes to make sure he’s safe. So when George was insulting Tommy and Techno, Wil just snapped” </p><p>Phil sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. He was ashamed, ashamed that he hadn’t been able to help Wilbur enough, ashamed that he couldn’t stop the way he feared being alone, guilty that he couldn’t have prevented it. Despite his internal conflict, he continued, refusing to look up as he recounted the event. </p><p>“I can’t remember what George even said, something about Tommy being loud and he should be mute like Techno I think, whatever it was, it really got him mad and he threw a rock at George’s head-... uh so I don’t think he meant for it to hit his head, I think he just wanted to scare them away but then again he’s never really been very good at sports. I’m really sorry for what happened, I can pay you back for however much the medical bill of getting that stitched up was-”</p><p>“Listen Listen”<br/>George’s older brother interrupted them, what was his name again? Wait, had he even told them his name? </p><p>“Okay boys will be boys, you don’t need to pay us back, Mum’s used to being down there with them by now anyway, I think they’ve grown a bit of a reputation for themselves even if we haven't been here long”</p><p>Finally, he pulled down his hoodie, his face wasn’t so shrouded in darkness anymore, showing off his pinkish-tannish skin, he had rounder cheeks than his brothers that were dusted with a light orange tone and crows feet that peaked out the sides of his eyes from years of full-force grinning. His kind features were paired with a pair of thick lenses and light brown hair, somewhere in the middle of George's and Dream’s. <br/>Now that he could see him properly, Phil seemed to trust him more, maybe it was the way he seemed to make perfect eye contact or maybe it was the way he grinned through his words but something just seemed like it was sincere.</p><p>Nonetheless, Phil thought it to be a little concerning that these young boys had become so well known at the emergency room. Surely ‘boys will be boys’ should be used with a grain of salt right? Now Phil was well aware that he and his brothers were far closer than most, most families just hadn’t been through the same strain that theirs had, but this guy clearly cared about his brothers so why wasn’t he concerned about their habits at all? </p><p>God, Phil had to take a splinter out of Tommy and he nearly had a heart attack, he couldn’t imagine taking them down to get stitches every other day. Did the other boys their age really play that rough? Was that normal? Were they the weird ones?</p><p>“My name’s Halo by the way! but everyone calls me Bad” he reached forward and shook Phil's limp hand. Phil could only describe his smile as being the embodiment of :D, it was a little disorienting. <br/>“And don’t look so guilty when you’re talking about Wil, boys their age just get a bit rough sometimes, believe me I’ve seen it all”</p><p>Phil was certain they had had vastly different upbringings.</p><p>“I’m not sure if he’s at a point where he’s comfortable showing you guys his face yet but Dream has really prominent birthmark that goes over his cheek, he’s pretty insecure about it but we’re actually hoping that seeing George still being happy even though he has something on his face will give Dream the confidence to start getting more comfortable with what he looks like”</p><p>Nodding along with what Bad was saying, a few more pieces of their weird little situation started to fall into place. Maybe he had been a little naive to jump to the conclusion that these were bad kids. Maybe they were just kids who had things they were dealing with, like everybody else. </p><p>He made a mental note to try and be less judgy next time he met someone. </p><p>Maybe it was just him being so just to Techno and Wilbur but something about a kid who was insecure acting the way Dream did gave him bad vibes. He wanted to help the boy but he also knew he held too much of a grudge over what had happened with Techno and Tommy. Although he was well aware how childish it was, their family was tied together by tight bonds like that and he truly wished that Bad would realise that Dream didn’t need a nerf blaster, he needed to talk to someone.  </p><p>“So even before they found the base, I'm pretty sure Techno, Wil and Tommy played some games with your boys after you first moved in, so I’m sure they know them better than I do but I also wanted to bring something up. The other day they came over here and they sorta were hitting Techno and Tommy with these wooden toys? I’m not sure if this was a game to them or something but because of his mutism, Techno couldn’t call out to us”</p><p>Now it was Bad’s turn to nod along and look shameful, it seemed like he really needed to talk to his brothers about when a game was going too far. Phil couldn’t help but feel a little bad for bringing it up now that he had confirmation their world wasn’t exactly black and white either. </p><p>“Techno got hit on the arm I think and Tommy got a splinter, they’re strong kids so they were okay but it was more about how scared it made them you know?”</p><p>Bad sighed, running a hand through his light brown hair and taking his glasses off.<br/>“I’m so sorry, they’re such typical boys. I’ll make sure to talk to them about it, I had no idea that was going on”</p><p>After another hug, initiated by Bad yet again, and a few more small points on how they could maybe compromise, the two separated. Bringing his brothers with him, Bad left the park, Phil being left with a sense of contentment as he basked in the knowledge that they’d have their space back soon. <br/>Phil thought about what Bad said ‘typical boys’, he hoped they were okay.  </p><p>====</p><p>After a few weeks of the twins constantly rambling about their new friend, Eret, they had finally brought him home for tea. Apparently Techno was finding talking to Eret a lot easier than he usually would, which Phil had to admit, filled him with immense pride. <br/>Even with Skeppy, who was their cousin, it had been years before he had even managed to speak a word to him, that being said, he had got there eventually and by the time Wilbur, Techno and Skeppy were 7 there were the loudest in the house. </p><p>He was sure there was another little boy they had been friends with too but Phil couldn’t remember them at all. If he remembered right they had moved away.</p><p>Since it was such an exciting night, Phil had actually agreed to cook, which he wasn’t the best at but he still enjoyed doing it if it made his brothers happy. <br/>Even though they were so used to their parents coming home late, they were all very much still in the habit of getting takeaways close to every night; it wasn’t the healthiest option by far but with doing his own homework, helping Tommy with his, and keeping the boys entertained, he rarely had the time to set up a proper meal. <br/>Tonight, while the twins walked Eret to their house, from the train station, Phil and Tommy worked on the dinner. Admittedly, Phil was doing the majority of the work, but the company was nice! And it kept the youngest entertained so he knew he wasn't getting into any trouble. </p><p>“I wanna chop the veggies! I’m super good with knives! Phil please!” <br/>Tommy, who was on mixing duty, whined, already reaching for the knife Phil was holding. </p><p>Luckily, the older of the two was able to swing his hand back fast enough to prevent Tommy from successfully grabbing it. He was used to this kind of behaviour by now. As much as he loved his brother for being confident and assertive, he wished he had a bit of a sense of self-preservation too. </p><p>“Phil I’m the knife boy! Vlog Knife!”</p><p>What the hell was a vlog knife?</p><p>“Listen mate, if you get cut I’m the one who’s gonna get yelled at, so chill out a bit”<br/>Phil laughed, gently guiding Tommy’s hands back onto the wooden spoon <br/>“Make sure the veggies don’t stick!” </p><p>The evening was spent with Phil measuring, chopping and dicing and Tommy mixing, adding and admittedly making a mess. At some point Phil had decided some dessert would be a good idea, it was an exciting night after all! He wanted to make sure Techno and Wil were the happiest they could possibly be, it seemed repetitive but it really wasn’t every day that they were bringing people home.  </p><p>Since neither he nor Tommy were exactly bakers, they opted to just melt some chocolate and cream over the stove and make some cornflake cakes in little cupcake cases; adding marshmallows was a very welcomed addition, thought of by none other than Tommy. In the end they had about 12 little ‘cakes’ that went to set in the fridge, even though he and Tommy had eaten the majority of the mixture whilst adding it to the cases. </p><p>“Oh wow” Phil chuckled, looking over his little brother “We should probably get you cleaned up first”</p><p>While it wasn’t exceedingly obvious that Phil had snacked on the chocolate, Tommy was the opposite. <br/>Chocolaty smudges and Cornflake crumbs stained his signature red and white top as the boy licked melted chocolate off his fingers. His question earned a little shrug of the shoulders, as if he hadn’t realised just how messy he had gotten. </p><p>After giving the kitchen work-tops a quick wipe down and adding the dirty dishes into the sink to be washed later, Phil turned the oven down to a lower temperature, wanting to keep the food warm but not burn it, and took Tommy by the hand to get him cleaned up upstairs. <br/>Once the boy was showered and in clean clothes they came back downstairs to pass the time while they waited for their brothers to return home, after some convincing from Tommy, they had managed to watch the first five minutes of Up before they arrived home.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>IM SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT<br/>im very stupid and very easily distracted and i have had exams all last week and all this week but i have come to terms with the fact that i will fail so i have given up and chosen to write fanfic instead &lt;3</p><p>ily all youre all such sweethearts</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. dinner nights</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Eret comes over to meet the family</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dinner was going well. Of course ideally he’d have preferred if their parents were able to come meet their new friend too but Wilbur was very much old enough to understand the value of money, he knew everything they had was thanks to their parents working these insane hours, and if they were sometimes a little distant when they were home that was okay too. They were just tired. </p><p>He didn’t always understand why other families didn’t need to work so hard for their money, he thought it was weird that he hardly got to see his parents and his peers were lucky enough to see them whenever they wanted. It was confusing but it was okay. If he needed stability he had Techno, if he needed comfort he had Phil and if he needed distracting he had Tommy. Their little dynamic worked even if there was a lack of adults. </p><p>Eret was good though, unlike other people who would pester them all the time about why they were home alone and sometimes even threaten to call social services -which Wilbur had always been afraid of, he did not want to be split up from his brothers- Eret had simply accepted that this was the way they lived. <br/>Eret was good at accepting things; he didn’t pester Techno to talk which is one of the big things that helped Techno start talking to him. Countless times Wil had been confided in about how his brother wished people didn’t make such a big deal about it, how that only added pressure and made it harder when he tried.<br/>When Wilbur begrudgingly admitted he couldn’t leave his brother’s side after Eret had asked him to grab something, he accepted that too. He didn’t try to ‘help’ him come out of his shell like so many others had, Wilbur wasn’t even in a shell! He was loud and contributive in class, people just couldn’t seem to understand why he was so scared of leaving Techno. Honestly, he didn’t know if he fully understood either.  <br/>Last Thursday, when Eret had asked if they wanted to hang out after school, when he was told they couldn’t because they had an appointment with their therapist, he accepted that too. </p><p>Needless to say, the twins became attached easily. Maybe their new friend didn’t always understand their quirks and habits but he didn’t need to, all they had ever wanted was for someone to see them as individuals who didn’t deserve to be judged for existing. </p><p>“Eret, gravy on your food?”</p><p>A shake of the head answered Phil’s question and the plates were laid on the table, Eret sat between Phil and Techno (since there was no way he was going to sit a new person next to Tommy of all people and he couldn’t exactly split up the twins.) A chorus of ‘thank you’s erupted as everyone sat down, ready to dig into the meal. </p><p>“By the way, While you were out Skeppy called. He said he might come over at some point, he had some game he wanted to show you two”</p><p>“He sucks. Tell him to stay home” Tommy grumbled through a mouth full of veggies, obviously still bitter over the last time their cousin had visited. He was always bringing games and Tommy rarely won. Unlike Phil, Skeppy didn’t let him win and whenever Skeppy was over, neither Wil nor Techno let him win either. It sucked. </p><p>Wil didn’t seem to share the same sentiment about the boy though, swiftly shutting up his brother with a brief yet painless smack to the back of his head. A warning. </p><p>“Skeppy’s our cousin, he thinks he’s good at a lot of things but he really isn’t” Techno sniggered as he explained the situation, “He’s fun though, you’ll like him” </p><p>The conversation trailed off there, stemming into what everyone had done that day, how they were feeling and a few over excited questions from Tommy, who was eager to try and learn more about his brother’s friend. As always, he was an absolute social butterfly, it made night’s like these easier, he wasn’t sure how things would have gone if Tommy also had issues with new people.<br/>The thought made Phil remember to pride himself on his younger brother too, maybe he wasn’t currently conquering a big fear but he was certainly one of, if not the, strongest of the kids Phil knew of; maybe not physically but he doubted most of his peers would have been able to soldier through such a rocky upbringing like Tommy had, such having caring brothers would have helped but objectively Tommy was the one who had lived through that. </p><p>Phil was very proud of all his brothers. </p><p>Even if they were sometimes a pain. </p><p>A sharp elbow to the ribs from Tommy was what brought him back down to earth, he wasn’t sure how long he had been zoned out but the twins were happily chatting with Eret and he didn’t need to worry about Tommy needing any kind of support while talking so he didn’t bother thinking too much about it. He glanced over at his younger brother as if to ask why he had been elbowed. </p><p>“Knock at the door” The kid grinned, smile gappy with missing baby teeth. </p><p>Nodding, Phil got up to go answer it.</p><p>==</p><p>The sound of a teenage boy sprinting into the room was the only introduction necessary, the boy in question had fluffy black hair and wore a thick blue jumper. He had some features that were similar to the boys, his hair and smile for example, and he seemed just as hyper as Tommy could be. Techno in particular had noticed how Skeppy could swing from being extremely hyper to basically passing about in the blink of an eye. </p><p>Practically throwing himself over Techno, who seemed far less amused than everyone else on the table, the boy whined about how long they were taking to eat. With a soft ‘thud’ he dropped his backpack to the ground and settled for leaning over Techno’s seat as he waited for them to finish. </p><p>“Who’s this by the way? I thought you hated new people. Or maybe they aren’t new and you’re just not including me in anything anymore”</p><p>He placed a hand on his heart, a theatrical sigh escaped his lips. So dramatic. Techno remembered how this ‘i’m so hurt’ act would work on the other boy they used to play with, he was always more Skeppy’s friend than his friend though, even so it had never worked on him. <br/>Maybe he was good at reading people from how much time he spent thinking, maybe he just didn’t care too much about other people’s emotions, either way he supposed it didn’t really matter as long as he wasn’t really hurt. </p><p>“Skep!” Wilbur piped up, maybe because he had been quiet for too long, maybe Wilbur was getting concerned that the amount of people surrounding him was overwhelming him, it wasn’t though, Techno was actually quite happy with the current situation but that didn’t change the fact that he’d let Wilbur carry the conversation if he wanted. <br/>Being silent was always going to be more comfortable than talking.</p><p>“Skep!” Wilbur repeated, grabbing the back of his teal blue hoodie and forcing him to turn around. <br/>“This is Eret! We met him at school, he’s cool, they like the same kind of music as me and their parents get her Burger king for lunch”</p><p>Wilbur looked very proud of himself that he had remembered to use all of the different pronouns they went by, he’d never met anyone that presented themselves like that before and while it was tricky to adjust to, he’d happily make the effort if that’s what made their new friend happy. </p><p>With his wide grin ever present, Skeppy nodded and grabbed Eret by the arm, dragging him to his feet before he could have the chance to protest before mimicking the action with both Wilbur and Techno. </p><p>“Finish your food later! You’re taking too long!”</p><p>His dark curls shook with mischievous laughter as the trio were dragged behind the admittedly much shorter boy towards the living room. </p><p>“Sit here!”</p><p>That’s when he disappeared into the kitchen, retrieving his backpack before sitting in front of the couch so all three of them could see what he had brought. Now, Techno wasn’t sure what Eret’s situation was, he appeared to be wealthy but he didn’t want to assume anything, nevertheless, that didn’t change the fact that his own family didn’t really have an abundance of money. </p><p>Above all, the goal was to get by and that they did. </p><p>So the excitement Techno felt when Skeppy pulled out the newest game on the market was immense. It was expensive. That much was obvious, Techno enjoyed games as much as any other boy his age -maybe even more so- but most of his games were either from the clearance bucket at GameStop or had been gifts from Skeppy. He would never have had a new game released the same day as he bought it.</p><p>“I thought it would be fun if we play together. It’s local multiplayer and I have no siblings so I thought maybe I could leave it here and we can play it whenever I come over. Obviously you can play it whenever” </p><p>“Dude! That’s so cool!” </p><p>Wilbur was already scuttling over to the TV, turning it on and setting up the console before popping in the game. </p><p>The four of them played for hours, taking a quick break to scoff the cornflake cakes that Phil and Tommy brought in before getting back to the game. At some point, Phil had gone off to work on his homework, leaving Tommy with the others since he was much too interested in watching his big brother’s play the game than to work on his own homework. </p><p>Phil had returned to check on them at around 7pm, ready to call an uber for Eret if he was still there since he didn’t exactly want to send a fairly young boy on a train alone in the dark. What he saw made his heart melt and he found himself regretting leaving his phone in his bedroom. </p><p>Skeppy’s head was leant back against the couch, resting on Techno’s knees specifically. Tommy was curled up into a little ball between Techno and Wilbur, who were snuggled up either side of him, and Eret was sprawled out across the remaining section of the couch. <br/>All five of the boy’s were asleep, the room only lit by the tv and the only sound being the various gun noises coming from the game. </p><p>Being the caring big brother that he was, Phil’s first reaction was to turn off the game, in case the violent noises gave any of them nightmares. Next, on came the light, and finally it was time to wake up the boys. </p><p>Honestly he wasn’t too bothered about Skeppy staying overnight since he could message his Aunt easily but he would have no way of contacting Eret’s parent’s so he’d have to be heading home soon. He definitely didn’t want to get himself involved in a missing child’s case all because he didn’t want to wake him up. </p><p>With a few grumbles and whined, all the boys except from Tommy -who Phil decided would be easier if they kept asleep- started to wake up. Eret was sent home in an Uber and Skeppy was sent to the guest room but only after Phil made sure he called his Mum to let her know he was staying at their place. The twins were sent to bed too after that, even Techno getting into bed on time, and Phil was assigned to carry the sleeping toddler, otherwise known as Tommy, up to his room. </p><p>Overall, today had been stressful, that much he was certain of, through trying to make the evening perfect for their new friend to trying to keep on top of his school work, there had been a lot on his plate, it was all worth it though. </p><p>Maybe it was good he had left his phone in his bedroom, maybe sometimes it’s better to remember the feeling than the moment.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>psst if any of you forgot, remember Eret goes by all pronouns</p><p>ALSO it was my birthday today, or technically yesterday since its like 2am right now but i am 16 pog!!! i can legally get married!!!!! wooo watch out for me on say yes to the dress lmao<br/>fr tho im terrified lmao i have to finish writing my personal statement for the colleges im applying to AND i need to finish writing my cv for the job im applying to grrrrr im not even an adult yet and life be hard</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. You don't have to be alone</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dream reflects on the events of the day.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I’m really disappointed” </p><p>Bad had pulled his hoodie off and stood in front of the trio, hands rested on his hips as he thought about what to do; Sapnap, George and Dream were directly in front of him, sitting on the edge of George’s bed. </p><p>“I don’t want you guys to get yourself into trouble like this. Play fighting is fine and I know you boys like it but this wasn’t a game to them. They were scared. They got hurt. And I know Wilbur was the one who started it, I know that’s probably what made you think they liked playing the same way you do but I need you to understand that he threw the rock because he was scared and angry. I mean, seriously guys? I can wrap my head around thinking the older bunch were having fun but you can’t go and hit a toddler”</p><p>Dream had felt the crushing weight of guilt fall upon his shoulders at that moment. The realisation that they were the bad guys made him feel a bit sick, the fact that throughout the whole situation, excluding Bad, he had been the second oldest, at 14, and he had led his younger brothers to torment these boys along with him. Bad was absolutely right, he should have known better, he should have checked to make sure everything was okay, he shouldn’t have done half the things that he did.</p><p>That had been four hours ago, now he was in bed, scrolling through his phone as he tried his hardest to think of ways he could make it right and also ignore his guilt simultaneously. It wasn’t uncommon for them to make stupid mistakes like this, they’d get overexcited and make decisions without really thinking them through - or really he would make stupid mistakes and his brothers would follow him. </p><p>He loved the respect they had for him but he didn’t want to lead them into doing bad things.</p><p>Maybe he was actually just a bad person, the thought crossed his mind more than once over the course of the night. During the talk with bad, Sap and George had mentioned that Wilbur tried to explain to them why they couldn’t be at the park. Dream hadn’t known about that but he was sure that they had assumed he was trying to get an easy win in the game or something because of his influences. He made a mental note to listen more.<br/>Was he really a bad person? He always tried to be good.<br/>He was smart and he got good grades, his reports always mentioned him being chatty but never mean. Sugar-coating the truth, that was, he was sure of it. <br/>Either he was a very mean person and was only now realising it, or he was an idiot who couldn’t read people very well.</p><p>As he pulled the plush comforter closer to him, he squeezed his eyes shut. It was only now hitting him that the boys who he had been so excited about being friends with might actually hate them. It’s not like he could even be mad, he had led his brothers and invaded their space and then hurt them. It was a shitty thing to do. <br/>For as long as he could remember he had wanted some friends to play with, aside from his brothers, they enjoyed the same things as him - he had been so sure that he had that but as it turns out, he was just bullying a group of brothers who just wanted somewhere to hang out.</p><p>That’s what he was, a bully. He was a bully and he was a bad person. He didn’t deserve to have people who shared his interests. He was a bully and he’d push them away. Nobody liked bully’s.</p><p>Throughout his funk, he hadn’t realised that he was slowly curling in on himself more and more, there was a lump of his comforter that he hugged to his chest as if it was a person. How had he not realised how lonely he was? Only making short cut-off relationships as his parents made them move every few months for work, had he become so used to this cycle that he had stopped caring if he hurt people? That’s what it seemed like. But if he had stopped caring,why was he crying? </p><p>Wait</p><p>He was crying?</p><p>With a certain coldness to his movements, the boy brought up a hand to his wet cheek, cupping it and then rubbing it so hard that he might have left a red mark. Crying was weak. Crying wasn’t cool. </p><p>Other kids might have cried when they moved houses, when they left their friends behind, when their lives changed drastically. Dream never did. Maybe he had always been a bully, that’s why he never had any friends close enough to cry over.</p><p>Honestly, he thought he did now, but he was still alone. So he shouldn’t be crying. It was weird and stupid. He was always the strong one, so he couldn’t be crying.</p><p>Despite his constant beratement, the tears kept flowing. He felt a breath hitch in his throat followed by a quiet, pathetic sob. Really, he had no reason to be crying, he should be working on how he was going to apologise. In this situation, Dream was not a victim.</p><p>So why did it hurt so bad?</p><p>All he had wanted was a friend, was he really so stupid that he couldn’t figure out when he was going too far?</p><p>All he had wanted was a friend.  </p><p>Maybe it was because he was so caught up in his own head but Dream didn’t notice Sapnap enter. The only reason he knew he wasn’t alone was because he went and sat next to him, placing a hand on his back. </p><p>It was a household full of teenage boys. They didn’t talk all too much about insecurities.</p><p>However, they did all love each other immensely and they always seemed to figure it out when someone was having a moment.</p><p>“You’re upset” </p><p>Sap’s voice was blunt and honest but it was a nice contrast to all the mean ones in his head so, with a teary nod, Dream made the decision to listen to what he was about to say.</p><p>“It’s okay. It’s normal to feel upset when stuff like this happens”</p><p>Dream nodded again, twisting himself around so he was laying on his back and staring at the ceiling, it was relieving to get some confirmation that his feelings were valid but that didn’t exactly make him feel any better. He was still bad, he was still lonely, he was still a bully.</p><p>The room fell into a thick silence, Sap positioned himself so he was laying down too, just like Dream was, and sighed.</p><p>“What’re you thinking about?”</p><p>“I’m not...I’m a bad person aren’t I?”</p><p>Sap shook his head, putting a hand over his own heart subconsciously as he spoke.</p><p>“You’re not. We can..We can make up with them. We didn’t do anything SUPER bad did we? We can..It’s okay.. We can fix this”</p><p>The boy’s words were jumbled, Dream couldn’t tell if that was because he didn’t believe what he was saying or if he just wasn’t used to comforting people.</p><p>After that, the room fell into silence, both boys left to think about what they specifically did to hurt their ‘friends’. </p><p>The distinct rustle of fabric was heard and all of a sudden Sapnap was hugging Dream. It was a little awkward, considering they rarely spoke about feelings or cuddled, but it was also comforting and nice.<br/>Sap’s headband tickled Dream’s chin, his black hair a mass on his chest as the boy clung to him, Dream wasn’t sure if it had been seconds or hours before he finally came to his senses and hugged his brother back. </p><p>It was comforting. </p><p>But his lungs still seemed to ache with regret. </p><p>“You’re not a bad person. You made a mistake, we all did. You’re not a bad person” </p><p>The phrase was repeated, almost as if it was a chant, over and over in as many different ways as Sap could come up with. </p><p>“You’re my brother and I love you. I know you’re a good person because I’ve known you all my life. You always try to do the right thing and that’s what matters. It doesn’t matter if you mess up because your heart was in the right place. You are a good person, Dream. You thought it was a game, we all did, You didn’t mean to hurt anyone, that’s what’s important” </p><p>Dream was nodding along, his cheeks felt hot again so he hid his face in Sapnap’s hair to try and hide any proof of his tears. Boy’s weren’t meant to cry. <br/>He still felt bad.  </p><p>He felt a little better about being a bad person but he was sure he’d feel guilty until he spoke to the sleepy boys and apologised properly. Sapnap forgiving him meant nothing, he hadn’t hurt Sap. He needed to apologise. </p><p>“Can you stay in here tonight?”</p><p>Dream’s voice felt weak and it shook with every syllable as he hugged his brother closer. <br/>Tonight wasn’t a night that he wanted to spend alone, he was far too sensitive, too vulnerable. He was sure he’d need someone with him to stop himself spiraling again. </p><p>“..yeah..I can do that” </p><p>Sapnap wondered if Dream knew this was helping him too.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I wrote this instead of my Lord of the flies essay for english POGCHAMP</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. conceited with low self esteem</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Dream team decide it's finally time to talk it out.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The morning sun seemed to trickle through the window like a leaky faucet, the seasons were changing and the once blistering heat was shifting to a far more bitter coldness. <br/>That being said, the concentrated beams of light seemed to wake the boys up with a solemn kindness, the chilly undertones being replaced by the heat from the hug. </p><p>Almost all at once, the events of last night flooded back to Dream; he remembered crying, he remembered being so so painfully lonely, he remembered his brother coming in and giving him a hug. Today was the day they’d make things right. Sapnap was telling the truth when he said the important thing was that they didn’t mean to hurt anyone, he was smarter than people gave him credit for and Dream appreciated that. </p><p>The boys lay in bed for a little while longer as the sun rose, the alarm clock said 6am but since it was a Sunday he hadn’t set an alarm, even so it was much earlier than the boys would normally get up. If anyone were to ask him, he’d say he didn't believe in fate but deep down he wanted to believe that this was a sign from the universe to tell them that they were doing the right thing. </p><p>It was nearly half seven by the time the pair got up, they had been laying about and scrolling through their phones as their bodies woke up but they knew sleeping in was a bad habit to get into so eventually they forced each other out of bed and stumbled towards the smell of a cooking breakfast and their older brother cooking. </p><p>The overall assumption, as the two sat down sluggishly, was that George was still in bed, he always woke up last anyway and it mustn’t help that everyone else had been up early today. </p><p>“You two sleep well?”</p><p>A few groans were heard but the overall consensus was that they had slept well and had in fact just not wanted to wake up. Today would be a good day though, they’d fix it all today. </p><p>“Well I was making some breakfast, blueberry pancakes, if one of you could wake George up that would be nice”</p><p>Dream nodded and pulled himself up from the table, jogging up the stairs and then made his way to George’s room, knocking on the door. He knew that wouldn’t be enough to actually wake him though so he let himself in and shook his brother awake, saying something about pancakes and how George would miss it if he slept all day. </p><p>The morning was nice, everyone was fairly calm, sleepy but calm. A few months ago Bad had been admitted into an academy school that specialised in media production, of course he had been ecstatic about this news but that also meant the boys didn’t always get to spend time with him. This past week he had been off on Half-term but for the rest of the term he’d only be home for weekends and even then sometimes he had to go to work. </p><p>It sucked but Dream was easily old enough to understand that his brother was just pursuing his dream and at least they lived close enough to the school that he could come home on weekends, a lot of Bad’s friends had to stay at the school the whole week and were only able to stay elsewhere if it was a longer break, like summer or winter holidays. <br/>So Dream was grateful for that much at least.</p><p>Day’s like this were cherished, where they were all just sat comfortably, talking or eating, and there was nothing to be mad about, there was an overwhelming sense of understanding in the air, as if for the first time in forever the boys were thinking clearly and they could see that they needed to just be mature and talk it out. </p><p>“How’re you gonna do it then?”</p><p>Bad was speaking with his mouth full but nobody cared to mention it. </p><p>“Just be honest. I was thinking about it last night, I think we just need to be clear with them and hopefully they’ll understand and still want to be friends afterwards”</p><p>There was a smile on Bad’s face, hopefully this would make him proud of them again, they were all very much aware that they had messed up but really messing up was the easy part, making things better was the hard part. </p><p> </p><p>----</p><p> </p><p>Phil was at work today and Wilbur wanted to prove that he was responsible to look after Tommy, even when he wasn't there, although they had sorted it out after Tubbo got his scar, he was still a bit ashamed and he still wanted to make sure Phil knew he was responsible. </p><p>So now, he was sitting with his little brother, on top of the boy’s favourite coaster. They weren’t really sitting on top of it but they were higher than Wilbur would have liked, it was about the point that Tubbo had fallen from now that he was thinking about it. Still, he wanted to let the kid have fun and blow some steam, he was just here to make sure he was safe if he slipped. </p><p>Techno was sitting directly underneath this rail too, he was playing some game that Skeppy had given him a while ago, on his DS. It was a peaceful day, no interruption, no conflict. Even the game was peaceful, it was some farming game that Skeppy had decided wasn’t interesting enough for him. It was a little ironic that the repetitive nature of it, that had made Skeppy not want it anymore, had also made Techno get attached to it very easily. </p><p>Currently he was growing potatoes and his farm was very cool, he was on the leader-boards but he wasn’t satisfied with that, he had to be number one.  </p><p>“What game are you playing, Blade?” </p><p>Tommy had hopped down from the rail, almost giving Wilbur a heart attack, but thankfully he was able to land with nothing more than a graze and a sore knee from the impact, that would go away quickly though. It seemed like he had got bored of climbing around the same area and was now much more interested in whatever his brother was doing. </p><p>Worming his way into Techno’s lap, he peered down at the little screen of Techno’s character farming potatoes, huffing out when he realised this wasn’t much more interesting than climbing the same section repeatedly. Still, he stayed curled up against his brother’s chest as he watched him play the game, it was more comfortable than sitting on old rails and he enjoyed sitting with Techno. </p><p>While Techno wasn’t usually one for needless contact or cuddling, he loved Tommy and if Tommy wanted to sit on his lap goddammit he could do that. </p><p>After making his way down from the rails, Wilbur sat down next to the pair, holding his burgundy beanie in one hand and raking his hair with the other. </p><p>As they were growing so unfortunately accustomed to, the peace didn’t last long.</p><p>Unlike any other time where they realised the Dream team were on their way in, they didn’t look rebellious or have wide grins on their faces, all three of the boys wore an awkward frown as they sauntered into the park.</p><p>Wilbur was the first to stand up, immediately stepping in front of his brothers as if to protect them, he was pissed to say the least.<br/>He had just wanted to chill out with his brother’s and these pricks had to keep showing up! He knew Phil didn’t want them to fight anymore but Phil wasn’t here right now.  </p><p>Protecting his brothers was his biggest priority right now, even if that meant breaking the rules. </p><p>“Go away!” He yelled at the trio, walking towards them with a kind of intensity that only seemed half real, sometimes you just needed to be more intimidating to get people to listen to you. <br/>“Just leave us alone! God you’re so annoying!”</p><p>Before he could realise what he was doing, Techno had jogged up behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder .</p><p>Of course Techno wanted him to calm down. Of course Techno wanted him to follow the rules. He loved his brother but sometimes it felt like he thought he was so much smarter than everyone else - probably because he was but it was still frustrating. </p><p>“No! Techno! You find it annoying too! You don’t like this either! They hit you! They hit Tommy!” </p><p>Right now, Wilbur was flapping his arms about as if they punctuated his words, a distinct movement to each of his points as if it had been rehearsed. </p><p>In all honesty, he had been waiting to say this far longer than he’d like to admit. He had always been the most vocal about his distaste for the ‘Dream team’ -which he still thought was a stupid name, sleepy bois was much better- but he knew the others felt like this too.</p><p>How could they not? They had come and invaded one of their only safe places and made it into some joke. </p><p>Wilbur would have swung at one of them right then and there but he knew the consequences of that would be much higher than if he just yelled. Violence had never been his thing and he had genuinely felt guilty for throwing the rock, words were his forte though. </p><p>Words slid off his tongue easily, he was perceptive and could tell what people were insecure about after one conversation, subconsciously making a mental bank of things he could use to hurt someone if the time came when he had to. <br/>It was a nasty habit to say the least and he hated that he would ever need to address it, it made his lyrics feel so real and his creative writing for English class always got top marks because of it. </p><p>But it was cruel and shameful to know that he was always looking for the worst in people, he was mortified to say it but he found it near impossible to trust that people would never leave so at some point along the line he had picked this up as a kind of coping strategy, if he could hurt someone back, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad when they left. </p><p>And so, in true Wilbur fashion, he cut deep, glaring at the boys in front of them as he spouted everything that had been bothering him. He just wanted it to stop. He knew he was being mean. He just wanted to be with his brothers. He just wanted it to stop. </p><p>He wanted Phil.<br/>He wanted Tommy.<br/>He wanted Techno </p><p>He wanted their spot back. </p><p>Tugging at his sleeve was Techno, he could tell he was upsetting his brother’s but he found himself too heated to care, he just wanted everything off of his chest and then he could help them. <br/>He had always hated the teachers that made him and Techno stay in class when he was getting overwhelmed, they were all aware of his ADHD and how that can lead to over-stimulation if a lot of things were happening at once. </p><p>No doubt he would hate himself for brushing his brother off like that later. 	He was being a bad brother.</p><p>“We thought it was a game! We didn’t think you were actually getting upset!”</p><p>George was yelling too now, so much for having a calm discussion. <br/>So much for staying friends. </p><p> </p><p>“Are you thick?! We’ve been very clear about how we feel! You’re the ones that keep coming back!”</p><p> </p><p>“We thought it was a game! We thought you were playing a character!”</p><p>It was getting too heated</p><p>Nobody was happy with this</p><p>Why did he find it so hard to calm down?</p><p>Reaching for his brother’s hand, desperate for some comfort, he realised Techno wasn’t with him anymore. Snapping himself around, he only saw Tommy, still sat under the rail, playing around on Techno’s DS. </p><p>“Techno?”</p><p>His throat felt like sandpaper, trying to call for his brother gave him an excruciating pain which was only rivaled by the heavy ball of dread sitting in his stomach. He knew he should have done something when Techno had been trying to get his attention, he was just so mad. </p><p>Why did he let this happen? </p><p>Turning back to the Dream team, hoping one of them had seen him leave, he noticed something else. </p><p>Dream was gone too .</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>wrote this during my Maths Zoom lesson today POGCHAMP</p><p>also tysm to everyone leaving comments &lt;3 i always go back and reread them when i need motivation, it makes me so happy to know you guys like my writing ily all sm sm </p><p>OH ALSO IM SO EXCITED TO WRITE THE NEXT CHAPTER</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. I just really miss him, okay?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Wilbur goes AAAAAAAAAA George calms him down</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It felt like there was bile rising in his throat, everything hurt. <br/>He wanted to search for Techno, to find his brother and cling on for dear life but no matter how much he tried to get moving, he found himself immobilised by fear. </p><p>“Uhh.. They’re probably just off doing something, Dream wanders off all the time”</p><p>George interjected, his voice dropping back down to a confused statement after all that yelling. He didn't understand. </p><p>Wilbur was used to people not understanding, what he and Techno had was special, it was unique, he didn’t believe that anyone else had been through life like they had. Unlike most people his age, he did need his brother and he had never grown out of the childish clinginess most kids felt towards their mother or the fear that took over them when said mother left. Growing up, Techno was the only consistent person he had. <br/>Phil tried but he had school and homework, their parents were always working, the babysitters also tried but there was a new one every day and he was never able to form any emotional bond with them. <br/>How could he not have got attached to his twin? <br/>The only person who’s life was the same as his own. </p><p>“You don’t get it. You don’t get it.” Was all Wilbur managed to mutter out before he went back to yelling for Techno, the name feeling like it was ripped from his throat. </p><p>He could feel his judgement getting looser, the amount of adrenaline coursing through his blood was probably unhealthy, he felt like he might faint if he made any quick movements. Plus, his face felt hot, hot with frustration, fear and panic. There was sweat glazing his forehead and his breathing felt heavy. </p><p>He wasn’t having a panic attack at least, he had helped Techno with those before and they sucked so bad he was incredibly lucky that he wasn’t as susceptible to them, that being said, he was definitely panicking. He wasn’t sure what the line was that turned it from freaking out to a full blown attack anyway, he thought maybe it had something to do with having an anxiety disorder, that maybe it was chemically different to normal panic. Right now he didn’t care though. </p><p>The thought had been fleeting, it had lasted less than a second in his head and yet he could probably write an essay on everything he thought of in that moment. He didn’t even realise how fast his mind was going until he felt small arms wrap around him. </p><p>Tommy. </p><p> </p><p>He was the big brother. He was supposed to be the one comforting Tommy and making sure he was okay, not the other way around. Still though, he appreciated it, the boy was sweet and caring and always wanted to help people. </p><p>“Wilbur doesn’t like it when Tech’ goes away” The boy had explained, twisting his head to have Sapnap and George in his line of sight. <br/>He remembered Phil talking to him about this, they’d gone over it in case he ever needed to get help for one of them when Phil wasn’t around, but right now Tommy couldn’t really remember the name of what Wilbur had. It was two long words, that’s all he knew. </p><p>“It makes him scared. Tech’ makes him feel safe” </p><p>Everyone seemed to nod a bit at that, they couldn’t really argue with that. <br/>If Techno made him feel safe, Techno made him feel safe. </p><p>There was a crashing noise heard from the old ticket booth that presumably sold tickets for the ride Tommy liked climbing on, with newfound speed, Wilbur sprinted over to the closed door, his body moving before even his mind could catch up. </p><p>With his hands balled into fists, he hit at the door, slamming it over and over as he begged for his brother. Usually he was okay being in another room. Usually as long as he knew where Techno was it would be okay, but today he’d been so frustrated and angry, all he had wanted was for Techno to hold his hand so he could calm down but he had found his brother wasn’t even there. </p><p>It hurt. 	</p><p>What if Techno was hurt?</p><p>“It’s me and Techno!” Dream had called from inside the little booth, “I think the door’s stuck” </p><p>The grimace had been evident in his voice as he spoke, causing Wilbur to grab onto the door knob and pull with all of his strength. It wasn’t budging.</p><p>Why had he let this happen? </p><p>He should have stepped back when Techno said he was getting overwhelmed. </p><p>He’d wanted to protect his brothers so bad that one of them got hurt in the process. </p><p>“Techno?” His voice was wobbly now, a small shake that was barely audible through the door.</p><p>“One knock yes, Two knocks no..Are you mad at me?”</p><p>Two knocks. Thank God.</p><p>“Did I piss you off?”</p><p>One knock. Understandable. </p><p>“I’m sorry.”</p><p>By now, Wilbur was slouched against the door, his breathing hitching every now and then as he silently sobbed into his knees. He wanted his brother back. He was on the other side of the wall but that wasn’t enough.</p><p>Nobody was really sure what to do, Tommy was being incredibly sweet giving his brother lots of hugs but Wilbur would rather not have him see him like this and George ‘n’ Sapnap were standing around without an inkling of an idea on how to make this situation less painful. It’s not like anyone could blame them though, neither of them had any experience with stuff like this. The closest thing they’d witnessed was the last time Dream had broken his mask.<br/>That wasn’t a fun day. </p><p>George was the first of them to move, going down to sit by Wil silently, putting an arm around him in his best attempt to comfort the boy. Even though they were the same age, Wilbur was physically a lot bigger than him which made it a little awkward trying to get into a good position. </p><p>Sapnap was the next to move, going over to Tommy and tapping his shoulder. Being the youngest of his own family, he knew how people could be, nobody wanted to show weakness in front of the youngest, everyone wanted to be seen as superman. Not only that but it would probably help relieve  some of the stress if Wilbur didn’t feel like he had to make sure Tommy was okay. </p><p>“Hey Tommy can you show me that game you were playing earlier? Wil’s gonna be okay” </p><p>Tommy’s head had shot up and he glanced between his brother and Sapnap over and over until Wilbur nodded at him. Maybe Sapnap had caught on to how protective Wil could be as he ended up taking Tommy to a bench that was conveniently out of ear shot but could be easily seen if Wilbur wanted to see his brother. </p><p>Wil was grateful. He’d spent the past half hour yelling about how he hated these boys and here they were, helping him. </p><p>Maybe they weren’t terrible people after all. </p><p>“Dream’s smart. Techno’s smart. They won’t be in there forever, they’ll find a way out. I know that probably isn’t what you want to hear right now though. You want him now right?”</p><p>All Wilbur could muster as a response was to pathetically nod his head. He wanted his brother. Everything he was feeling right now was so intense, he was sure if he tried to communicate any of it, he’d fail. </p><p>“Bad told us what was going on yesterday. We feel really guilty, we shouldn’t have done half the things that we did. We’re all really sorry”</p><p>“It’s okay. I’m sorry for hitting you with a rock and for saying everything I said. I don’t hate you”</p><p>Although he was still curled in on himself and he still had hot tear tracks staining his cheeks, the talking was making him feel a bit better, it was keeping his mind off of the current situation at least. </p><p>“Why isn’t Phil here today?”</p><p>“He’s at work right now”</p><p>“We could call him. He’s the biggest out of all of us, he might be able to get the door open, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind coming down after work if you explain to him”</p><p>Wilbur nodded and fumbled for his phone, sliding it out of his pocket, it was clear that he only really had it for emergencies. It wasn’t touch screen and there was a grand total of two games built into it. Wil didn’t care though, he’d never been super interested in technology anyway.</p><p>He clicked on Phil’s contact and listened to the phone buzz as it called him, feeling tears welling up all over again as he imagined all the possible outcomes. <br/>What if Phil got super angry that they called him while he was working?<br/>What if he couldn’t answer because he was too busy?<br/>What if his boss saw him on his phone and fired him?<br/>What if even Phil couldn’t get them out and they were trapped forever?</p><p>When Phil finally answered, Wil was far too lost in his own head to fully articulate what was happening so George reached over and gently turned the phone on speaker mode. <br/>Immediately Phil knew something was wrong, the fact that Wil was crying, that he couldn’t hear the others playing in the background, the fact that he had been called in the first place.</p><p>Something was wrong. </p><p>“Hey uh..It’s George, Wil’s a bit upset so I guess I’ll explain what happened. We came down here to try and apologise because Bad said you guys weren’t seeing it as a game -sorry by the way- and I think Wil was just a bit fed up with us and we ended up yelling and um Techno went off and Dream followed him into this old ticket booth. Basically the door’s stuck and Wil’s panicking, Sapnap is playing with Tommy so he doesn’t end up freaking out too or anything.” </p><p>Phil nodded and then realised they couldn’t see him so he made a little ‘uh-huh’ noise. </p><p>“Thanks for calling me, You guys are good kids, thanks for helping them. Wil? Can you listen to me bud?” </p><p>Wil responded with a little sniffle as he tried to dry his eyes </p><p>“Techno’s gonna be fine, Dream’s gonna be fine. I’m coming down as soon as my shift ends, okay? Take a deep breath for me”</p><p>Wil did as he was told</p><p>“That’s it, you’re doing so well. I know it’s scary, you’ll be okay. You wanna chat to George for a bit? Maybe you can tell him about some songs you’re working on”</p><p>“I’d love to hear about your songs!” George had propped himself up on his knees, he had read somewhere that if you act very happy people around you feel happy too, he hoped that was real. </p><p>After wrapping up the call, Phil promising to come down as soon as he could, Wil leant his head back and died his eyes off one last time. He was feeling a little better after talking to Phil, he always knew what to say. </p><p>“Right now I’m working on this song about a guy who’s in love with a girl but she doesn’t love him back. It sounds sad but it’s kinda funny I think”</p><p>Wilbur was speaking more clearly now, that was good at least, George had been so worried that he’d have to deal with him crying the entire time and no offence to Wilbur but he really did not know how to deal with people crying. </p><p>“Yeah and he’s all mad about her not loving him back. Have you heard about the whole nice guy, incel stuff? I find it really funny to write songs as if I’m one of those guys, I think the way they just rationalise stuff is funny”</p><p>“Yeah yeah, and they’re always calling girls bitches and stuff when they don’t like them? Yeah they’re funny”</p><p>Wil was smiling now. Thank God for that. </p><p>“You play the guitar right? When did you learn that?”</p><p>“I think I started when I was like eight, our parents really wanted me and Techno to get better social skills so they signed us up for a bunch of extracurricular activities. They copped on very quickly that we don’t like being separated though, the first guitar lesson I had I was just like this, probably worse honestly since I was like eight, And Techno had Violin lessons, he actually really liked his teacher but she found it difficult teaching him because he wouldn’t talk so eventually our parents ended up just letting us stay together since he calms me down and for the longest time I was the only one that can read his body language.”</p><p>George was nodding along, their lives were actually really interesting. They had been fighting for so long but it’s not like either of them actually wanted that. The more Wilbur spoke about their habits and hobbies, the more he wanted to learn about them. </p><p>They just had such a different life to him, he never even realised people could be happy being silent before he met them. </p><p>Maybe this could be the start of something better, something healthier than a one sided friendship. George hoped so anyways.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>ty for reading!!!!! &lt;3 you all deadass mean so much to me<br/>Next chapter will be dream and techno pov during all of this, so like what was going on inside da booth<br/>you are all pog, however writing this much sad makesme go AAAAAAA so i had to add somehappiness in at the end you feel me </p><p>I keep forgetting to do this but for people who care, here is da word count: 2228</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. tomorrow is nearly yesterday and everyday is stupid</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>same time period as last chapter! Techno and dream perspective this time</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>chapter title is the title to a crywank album because i got lazy</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Listen, he didn’t want to leave. Techno knew that neither him nor Wil were able to function very well apart. He knew he’d hurt Wilbur if he ran off, but it’s not like he had predicted the door getting stuck, truly he had thought once Wilbur realised he was gone he would just come over and chill out with him.</p><p>The yelling had just gotten too much. There had been so much noise and he just wanted a break, his mind had felt fuzzy and it was getting hard to distinguish his own thoughts from what was going on around him, an anxious pressure built in his chest that made him want to either scream or hit someone. </p><p>It was just so loud.</p><p>Tugging on Wilbur’s sleeve was usually the sign he gave when things were getting too much, countless times he’d done so in school and Wilbur had rushed him out of the situation, without any kind of hesitancy or worry that he might get in trouble for doing so. Which he had.<br/>
That being said, he wasn’t sure if Wil had ever been the reason he was feeling this way before, he was always considerate and tried his best to do what was best - of course he was still human and had blips where he might get overwhelmed himself, or maybe he was too stressed about something and wasn’t able to help.</p><p>Those situations always felt terrible to be in, they made Techno mad beyond belief but he always calmed back down eventually. Whilst he was pretty closed off, he was never one to hold a grudge and he generally understood that Wil was his own person with his own emotions and he couldn’t always rely on him to do everything. </p><p>He didn’t want to rely on him.<br/>
It felt stupid and infantilising to not be able to do things yourself,<br/>
That being said, he appreciated his brother greatly. </p><p>So, when Wil was far too heated to help, Techno had tried his best to endure the situation. No matter how light headed he got, he knew Wil would freak out if he left, so he stayed.<br/>
For a while it was okay, it was stressful and awkward but he was okay. </p><p>That was until the proper yelling started. When they had moved from calling each other annoying and selfish to genuinely attacking each other as people. As much as he wanted to stay, he knew he needed to just take a break, Wilbur would understand. He knew Wil knew he was getting overwhelmed so of course Wilbur would understand. </p><p>Nobody noticed when he left, that’s what he had thought, despite the fact that he had been frantically running for a place to calm down. Since they had been sitting on the coaster just moments before, the most logical place to hide seemed to be the ticket booth.<br/>
Wrapping his long hair back into a ponytail, the boy carefully crept into the old building, keeping the door open behind him as he hadn’t planned to stay long.</p><p>The floor had speckled pieces of glass all over it, stemming from vandals that had come over the years, the old counter was surprisingly clean though so that’s where he decided to sit, back leaning against the rusted old shutters. The idea that one day someone had closed this place up after work and never came back was a weird mix of haunting and calming, like it showed just how easily places can get lost to time. Not wanting rust in his hair, he had pulled the ponytail out from behind him and placed it over his shoulder, braiding it slowly to pass the time. </p><p>The braid wasn’t exactly good or pretty, Niki was usually the one who would braid his hair, she was the one who had taught him too but he supposed he didn’t have the coordination or patience to make it look presentable at all.</p><p>From inside the booth, he could still hear the echoes of yelling but it was much more muffled now, it provided a nice easy middle-ground where he wasn’t too far from his brothers and could easily go to them if he heard anything bad happen, but it was also quiet enough that he was able to hear his own thoughts again. Thank god. </p><p>Peace never seemed to last long anymore though, not now that the Dream Team were apparently so adamant on becoming friends. He guessed so anyway, he had been listening to the start of the argument and George seemed genuinely sorry about everything. </p><p>“Hey!” A voice had come from right outside the booth, footsteps of someone jogging along with that too. </p><p>Before he knew it, Dream had ran into the booth, closing the door behind him -out of habit, Techno guessed- and then started walking towards Techno.<br/>
There was a crash and a blur of green before the boy was on the floor, having tripped over some of the debris, reminding Techno that the majority of people weren’t used to the vast amount of shit that was just spewn over the park from it’s previous owners. </p><p>Maybe if it was any of his brothers he would have laughed at the trip, it was comical to say the least. But the floor was covered in glass and dirt and God knows what else. </p><p>Not the best stuff to be laying in, that’s for sure. </p><p>Hopping down off the counter and running his hand through his hair to get rid of the braid, he made his way to the boy and tried to help him up, at least he didn’t seem to be upset. </p><p>“Oh god!” He chuckled, his laugh was almost a wheeze, Techno thought if they were ever friends he might tease him about it.<br/>
“Dude! You ran off, I just wanted to make sure you were alright” </p><p>He rubbed his hands, scratched and dirty, against his hoodie to  get some of the grime off as he sat against the wall, seemingly not caring about everything he was sitting in. </p><p>It was almost like a movie, Techno thought, how he laughed and got up only for everything to come crashing down. </p><p>There was a thin crack going from the top middle to the bottom middle of his mask, admittedly it didn’t look all too serious until Dream had sat up, laughing like a kettle, that it had snapped in two, both pieces of plastic dangling off his ears while the elastic held them pathetically. </p><p>The boy’s face displayed genuine horror and embarrassment, as if he had been caught without trousers on or something. To Techno, the idea of wanting to hide your face to the same degree you’d hide your privates seemed crazy, that being said he couldn’t fully judge him for that when he wouldn’t even talk.</p><p>Snapping back to reality, Techno looked away sharply. He might not fully understand why he was hiding his face but he wanted to respect his privacy nonetheless, he knew he’d feel pretty mortified if Dream listened to him talk or something, he guessed it was the same kind of thing. </p><p>He hated to admit it, but he had got a glimpse of his face, there was a purple coloured mark that spread over half his face, he wasn’t sure if it was a burn, scar or birthmark since it had been such a short glimpse though. Speckled across his cheeks, light orange freckles decorated his face, reaching from his lips,squeezed shut in embarrassment, to his eyes, wide and wild. </p><p>As if it couldn't get any better, apparently the noise of Dream’s fall had been loud enough to alert everyone that they were in the booth and very quickly Wilbur was banging on the door in hysterics.<br/>
Hiding his face in his dirty palms, Dream attempted to open the door but found that it wasn’t moving. </p><p>Well fuck. </p><p>To say that Techno felt guilty would be an understatement, not only was Wilbur outside the door, practically taking it off its hinges with the amount of force he was exerting on it, Dream too had got hurt from Techno running off, he had fallen and scraped up his hands but, more importantly, he had broken his mask. </p><p>“It’s me and Techno!” Dream had called out, once he realised there was no point waiting for Techno to do it.<br/>
“I think the door’s stuck” </p><p>Wilbur seemed to fumble with the door a little while longer before giving up and leaning against it, his voice sounded like he was in physical pain from not being with Techno, it felt horrible knowing he’d caused this. The brunette gave him simple instructions, one knock for yes and two for no. It was an easy way of communicating when they couldn’t even read body language</p><p>“Are you mad at me?”</p><p>He knocked twice, why would he be mad? Wil messed up but so had he. They’d both made emotional decisions without regard for the other, they’d screwed each other over and it could have easily been avoided with communication. </p><p>That being said, communication was hard when you’re seething with rage, so of course Techno wasn’t mad. </p><p>“Did I piss you off?”</p><p>Honestly? Yes he had. Whenever Wil, or any of his brothers, did something like this it pissed him off. It had been a small decision but it had hurt him so of course it pissed him off, so he gave one knock, not wanting to lie to his brother about how the situation made him feel.<br/>
They had had plenty of conversations with their Therapist about how if they aren’t honest, situations can repeat themselves. </p><p>The next thing he heard was an apology, then he assumed Wil was talking to the other two members of the Dream Team since the conversation trailed off more into them trying to help him. </p><p>He was glad Wil wasn’t alone right now.</p><p>Looking behind him, Dream was still curled up, trying to hide his face with his grubby hands but it wasn’t working very well, there were still parts peeking through and that was obviously upsetting him by the way he frantically tried to move them into the right position. Not only that but it wasn’t like his hands were exactly clean either, they probably still had glass on from when he fell and they definitely were still covered in dirt. </p><p>The idea of him getting something like that in his eye made his stomach flip so, trying his hardest not to look directly at his face area, Techno took off his red coat and handed it to Dream, making a motion of putting it to his face before sitting down next to him.</p><p>Thankfully Dream was smart. He put his face in the hood of the coat and fasted the button on the back of his neck so it wouldn’t fall down. </p><p>“God, I bet I look like an idiot don't I?” The boy chuckled, using his hands to smooth it out to make sure nothing was visible. </p><p>“Thank you, I know we’ve been kinda the worst to you guys the past few weeks. I know it sounds like an excuse but we really didn’t mean to hurt you, we thought it was all a game y'know? You’re nice though. We kinda think the same, I think”</p><p>Techno nodded, Dream was intelligent and strategic and strong, they both had their problems but despite that they both also had their own personalities. While Techno was more reserved in public, being more assertive and confident when he was with his loved ones, Dream was the opposite, strong and assertive until he was comfortable, which is when the insecurities came back.</p><p>They were both very similar people, Dream knew they had the capacity to be friends if he worked hard at it. </p><p>“You didn’t….You didn’t see anything right?” </p><p>Above anything else, Techno hadn’t been expecting him to say that, of course it made sense, he didn’t show his face for a reason, but his demeanor had shifted so easily. </p><p>Dream was hard to read, he wasn’t even sure if he should tell the truth here. Lying was bad, he knew that, but sometimes telling the truth could hurt people.</p><p>Eventually, after almost a minute of staring blankly, Techno decided telling the truth was always the correct thing to do, even if it hurt in the short term maybe it would be better in the long term. </p><p>With extreme hesitancy, Techno nodded his head. </p><p>Dream’s breath seemed to hitch. </p><p>“It’s just- We moved around so much growing up right? I’ve had that mark for as long as I can remember! But people don’t understand when they see it, they think it’s weird and ugly and they’d always make fun of it when I went to new schools! And then...Then one day I bought a mask and it was so much better! Nobody thought that was ugly, they thought it was weird but weird is better than weird and ugly”</p><p>Words seemed to be coming out a mile a minute, if Techno didn’t know better, he would have guessed Dream had never had anyone to vent like this to before. Thinking back, he tried to remember how Phil comforted him whenever he was upset. It was mainly hugs and kind words. </p><p>Wrapping an arm around Dream had been the easy part, he may not have an intense craving for contact but if someone was upset he was hardly going to deprive them of it. The hard part was the ‘kind words’ section, for a moment he wondered if he could get away with staying silent but he distinctly remembered that Phil’s kind words were really the main thing that helped. </p><p>Fuck </p><p>Tuning everything out, Techno tried to focus all of his energy into talking, his throat and tongue felt swollen and his mouth felt like it had been stuffed with cotton wool. Thinking back yet again, he tried to remember techniques his speech therapist had taught both him and Wilbur. He wasn’t even trying to say anything yet and the sheer thought of talking had him feeling like he might hurl.<br/>
There was one in particular that he was good at; Wil was supposed to say one number and Techno would say the next and so on. It was designed to slowly ease him into talking without the added stress of accidentally saying the wrong thing.</p><p>Wil wasn’t here right now though. </p><p>So he tried the next best thing, Dream. </p><p>Just rip it off, like a band-aid. Just rip it off, like a band-aid. Just rip it off, like a band-aid.</p><p>“One..” he muttered, almost inaudible as anxiety coursed through his veins, praying that Dream would understand what he was trying. Every bone in his body was telling him that he was somehow playing a dangerous game by talking, he just had to keep reminding himself that objectively there was nothing to be afraid of, he reminded himself of how proud Phil would be when he was able to tell him that he had managed it and on his own. </p><p>Dream didn’t seem to understand. He just sat staring at Techno with wide eyes, having clearly become accustomed to the boy being silent. </p><p>“You spoke?”</p><p>Techno nodded and then nodded again, towards his hands, showing one finger, then two fingers a couple times. </p><p>“Two?” </p><p>The smile on Techno’s face said it all, they’d practiced this technique so many times that he was sure he could get the words out now that Dream knew what they were doing.</p><p>“Three.” </p><p>Despite his smile and seemingly confident nature, his voice was evident that he was still very much anxious about what was happening.</p><p>“Four!” </p><p>Dream was smiling too now, not that Techno could see it through the hood, but it showed in his voice. He wasn’t sure if Dream really knew what was happening or if he thought they were counting for fun but he was glad the boy was helping anyway.</p><p>Together, they counted up to 30, Techno’s voice very slowly getting more and more confident and stable. By the time they were at 30, Techno’s voice still wasn’t exactly perfect, or nearly as strong as it was when he was with his brothers, but it was decent. </p><p>Looking away made talking easier, so he looked at the old rusted shutters and fiddled with his hair, absentmindedly braiding it as he sorted out what he was going to say in his head. </p><p>Phil was going to be so proud of him.</p><p>“It’s going to be okay. You’ll feel good about it one day”</p><p>The words were cut short and stiff, it had felt like he was having to physically push them out of his throat as he said it but God. He was so proud of himself.  </p><p>“Techno!!”<br/>
Dream had practically squealed as he hugged the other boy<br/>
“Thank you so much. I hope you know the same applies to you! One day you’re gonna be as loud as Tommy”</p><p>Techno smiled but rolled his eyes at that.</p><p>Nobody could ever be as loud as Tommy.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>AWOOGA<br/>this was really nice to write but i have school tomorrow and didn't do any of my homework.<br/>Word count for this chapter is 2849 WHICH PUTS US OVER 30K POGGERS<br/>also leave kudos because im unnecessarily competitive about everything ty fellas</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. family always comes back</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Philza minecraft to the rescue!!!!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Practically crashing his bike outside the park, Phil hopped off and sprinted into the direction of his brothers, throughout the past hour of his shift he had been going through hell. Trying to concentrate and deal with naggy customers was ten times harder when you were terrified your little brother(s) might be having a panic attack. <br/>Much to his surprise though, when he arrived, panting and out of breath, he didn’t see the scene of chaos he had predicted. In fact, Wil was happily chatting to George, a hand grasping at the other’s hand, Phil supposed he was trying to replicate the feeling of having Techno with him, and Tommy was sitting next to Sapnap, a few feet away, playing on Techno’s DS. </p><p>It seemed peaceful, yet tense, like how the air always seems to be freshest after a storm. </p><p>“Everything okay guys?”<br/>Phil cleared his throat, seeing all four heads peak up upon hearing his voice. Wibur’s face seemed to morph into a grin as he got up and ran to his older brother, letting go of George for a more suitable stand-in for Techno. The first thing he did was grab hold of his arm, reveling in the comfort that it gave him to have an ounce of familiarity amongst everything happening. </p><p>“They’re still stuck”<br/>With Wil, Mumbling was never a good sign, he always seemed to fall back into the habit when he was ashamed and didn’t want to admit to something. <br/>Did Wilbur really blame himself for this? It was an old park, it was honestly a wonder how it hadn’t happened sooner.<br/>He had a smile on his face but his body language betrayed any kind of front he was attempting to give.</p><p>Leading him to the door was Wilbur, placing a hand on the knob and trying his hardest to open it as if to prove a point. </p><p>“It wont open..” There was a sniffle before a cough was forced out to hide it  “It wont open.”</p><p>His voice sounded weak, like he was on the verge of just giving up,of just accepting that he’d never see Techno again. <br/>In Phil’s opinion that would be an incredibly childish thought, not like he’d ever say that, it was just that he’d found nothing was really impossible. Sometimes you need to think outside the box to figure it out, but everything was very much possible. That being said, he understood why Wil would feel that way, he couldn’t really knock him for something he couldn’t help, feelings could get messy and complicated but family could always figure it out.</p><p>First, he gave a little knock on the door and called into the booth, wanting to make sure the two were okay first, plus it would be a bit ironic if he came to help and accidentally swung the door into them because he hadn’t given a warning. </p><p>“You two alright in there? I’m gonna get you out, okay?” <br/>“Phil!” Dream seemed to yell like he had all the energy in the world “We’re okay! I broke my mask! Techno spoke!”</p><p>“You broke your mask?!” <br/>George had piped up, turning his head, brows furrowed with concern and confusion. The two got into a little back and forth, Dream trying to blow it off as totally-not-a-big-deal and George getting exponentially more worried about his brother. </p><p>However, all Phil was able to think about was the fact that Techno had spoken. It wasn’t incredibly rare nowadays, he had a small number of friends who he would speak to but he could honestly say that -that Phil knew of, of course- that Techno had spoken to someone he wasn’t already close with. </p><p>The pride swelling inside him was immeasurable, he knew just how hard Techno had been working to get to this point and the fact that it was paying off was just mind-blowing to him. Techno had worked so so hard and he had taken a massive step with something that was scary for him.</p><p>They were doing something right at least. Okay. Back on task, he couldn’t exactly gush about his little brother if he was stuck in a ticket booth. </p><p>Giving the door a quick wiggle it became very apparent that it was tilted off its hinges and without knowing where it was getting caught it would be pretty impossible to get it open. Sighing, he decided with great reluctance that he was going to have to ‘pull a Wilbur’ as they had started to affectionately refer to it. </p><p>Within five minutes he had found a rock, big and sharp, it could clearly do some damage if it had enough force behind it. <br/>Honestly, he felt a little bad about doing this, when they first found this place they had made the decision that they wouldn’t vandalise anything since that would just ruin the sanctity of their spot. This was a rare exception though, Phil very much still stood by the fact that mindless damage was bad but this was really the only way to get the boy’s out. </p><p>“I’m going to throw a rock through the shutters okay? Make sure you’re standing back”</p><p>“Standing back!”</p><p>The first throw made a big indent, the corner of the shutter caving up just so Phil could bash it a few more times and cause an actual gap. Once there was enough of a crawl-space, Phil held the top of the shutter up and signaled for the boy’s to go through. The metal was poking into his hands and he knew he’d need to bandage them up when he got home but he saw it as more important to make sure the boys got out unscathed. <br/>Especially Dream, not to say he didn’t love Techno, he just hadn’t met their parents and who’s to say they had had a tetanus shot?</p><p>Generally, he did try not to compare their home-life to other people’s since there were just so many factors that affected it, that being said if he wasn’t the one to book his brother’s vaccinations every few years, he doubted that they’d  get done at all.</p><p>Dream had been the first out of the booth, Techno guiding him from behind since his vision was pretty limited from the coat draped over his face. Upon finally being back out in the open, his brothers immediately came over to check if he was okay, pulling him away from the group for a moment to check for any scratches on his face. <br/>Suddenly it hit Phil, these boys were a bit rowdy, they were impulsive and loud, they made a lot of questionable decisions but at the end of the day, the love was still there; the exact same love and concern he had for his brothers was there. <br/>Maybe they weren’t exactly as rotten as originally thought. </p><p>Once Techno had so much as placed a foot outside the booth, Wil had rushed over, clinging onto him and whispering an array of apologies and promises to never ignore him like that ever again. </p><p>“Techno!” The boy had Techno’s cheeks cupped in his hands as he half examined him for cuts and half tried to reassure himself that his brother was very much still here. <br/>“Techno! Techno! Techno!” </p><p>Eventually, the boy gave in to his name being chanted and pulled Wilbur into a hug, rubbing his back gently. Everything was okay now. The scene was sweet and picturesque, the two holding gently. </p><p>As if materialising back from the corner they had scuttled off to, the Dream team were back but George was leading them instead of the usual Dream, that made sense, Phil thought to himself, the day had been emotionally exhausting for everyone involved, no doubt Dream just needed a cool down from his role. </p><p>“We’re gonna head home I think, Dream needs to get a new mask and I think we’re all pretty tired after today. We did want to come today to talk to you guys about everything that happened, I guess we kinda see why we shouldn’t come unannounced now. Still. I wanna talk so are we okay to come down Wednesday? We promise to always tell you beforehand if we’re gonna come now.”</p><p>“Wednesday’s good, I’ll be taking this lot home soon too”</p><p>George went to move but Dream stood still, giving Techno, who still had a very attention deprived Wilbur stuck to his arm, a tug on his sleeve.</p><p>“I uh.. I still have your coat”</p><p>Techno’s face contorted into an emotion Phil couldn’t read, apparently Wil could though because he passed him his phone, presumably so that he could type out what he wanted to say rather than going through the whole process again. Plus, that was a closed space with one person, Techno already knew trying out here would be too much so he didn’t bother, opting to just show him the phone screen instead. </p><p>‘Just bring it on Wednesday, idc, get a new mask though because you look stupid’</p><p>Dream ‘grinned’ (or as much as a grin you could do through a hood) and nodded, thanking Techno before he and his brother’s finally said their farewells and the sleepy bois were left alone in the park. </p><p>It was quiet, just for a minute<br/>Before Phil burst out into a massive grin, scooping up his brothers into a big hug.</p><p>“I’m so proud of all of you! I’m so proud! So so proud!”</p><p>Each one of them got a kiss on the forehead as Phil gushed over them</p><p>“Okay okay I think it’s time I get a proper explanation first though”</p><p>--</p><p>Phil had led them to a bench, the same one near the coaster that they had been sitting at earlier, and got ready to hear the full story. Wil was still holding onto Techno, keeping their hands linked even when they were sitting but he supposed it had also been pretty upsetting for Tommy too since the young boy immediately went to sit on Phil’s lap, something that he only ever really did if he was tired or in need of comfort, snuggles for the sake of snuggles were usually when he was sitting with the twins. </p><p>And so, with a little boy on his lap and his other two younger brothers in front of him, Phil gave out a sigh, trying to decide what was best to say. They all seemed so shaken up. </p><p>“If explaining what happened is going to hurt, you don't need to say anything, I love you all and I trust your judgements. Of course I’m curious but at the end of the day my job is just to love you guys and make sure you have something stable to come home to”</p><p>Tommy had curled up against his chest, taking this as a sign that he didn't want to be part of the conversation, Phil wrapped him up in his green jacket, hoping that the option to shield himself from it would help a bit. </p><p>“I can explain” Wil cleared his throat, fiddling with Techno’s hand, who was used to the affection by now. <br/>“They came down and.. I got mad. I knew you wouldn’t like it but I thought I was protecting everyone so I kept yelling and yelling and I wouldn’t even listen to what George was trying to tell me. Techno told me he was going into overload but….but…” He stopped fiddling with Techno’s hand, instead opting to squeeze it as his face contorted to one of guilt and pain.</p><p>“I didn’t want to listen or deal with it or just stop yelling so I ignored him. I carried on Yelling until he ran off, I think Dream must have followed him because they both ended up in the booth and the door got stuck. I got so scared and I was freaking out, Tommy was being really sweet and trying to help but I think it was all just a bit much, He and Sapnap went off to play which I was really glad about.. I.. I didn’t want him to see me like that. Anyway George helped me calm down and that’s around the time I called you. We kinda just spoke about everything, I told him about my music and how Techno plays violin, he spoke about some of his hobbies too. He’s kinda nice actually”</p><p>Phil’s face morphed into sympathy, scooting across on the bench to pull Wilbur into a hug. </p><p>“You all handled that so so well. I love you all so much and I’m so proud, Toms? Look up for a second big guy”<br/>A little face poked out from the big green jacket<br/>“I’m so so happy to hear you were helping Wil, that was a very good thing, I’m also very very very proud to hear you were able to give him his space when he needed thinking time, that was a very grown up decision and I’m incredibly proud of you for that.”</p><p>Tommy was grinning now, he clearly disliked it when his brothers were upset but the praise was enough to get back the usual smiley boy. <br/>“I’m the best.”</p><p>“That’s right” Phil laughed “You’re the best”</p><p>Next up, Wilbur. God if he had all the time in the world he’d still have to rush to say all the reasons he was proud. </p><p>“Wil?”</p><p>The boy looked up, looking much smaller than normal with his shoulders hunched. </p><p>“You did so so well, you handled that perfectly. Maybe it started off a little rocky, maybe there were a few bad decisions but that’s okay, nobody got hurt and you're all safe. I’ve never seen you be able to de-escalate yourself like that before and honestly I’m just at a loss for words. You’re doing so well and I can tell you were trying really hard to keep it together. I love you so so much and I promise you we aren’t going anywhere.”</p><p>Wil didn’t have a response, just a shy smile, moving to rest his forehead on Techno’s shoulder, Tonight definitely seemed like one of those nights where Techno would need to stay by his side the whole time.</p><p>“And Techno? Oh my God. You spoke to Dream? Can I hear the story?”</p><p>Techno nodded, a big grin on his face, having clearly been waiting for his turn to get praised,<br/>“Well Dream broke his mask and he was sad, I gave him my coat to try to fix it but he was still sad that I saw his face. I tried to remember what you do when we’re sad and I realised I was going to have to talk, it was really scary and I ended up doing the counting thing that me and Wilbur do! But Wil wasn’t there so I had to gesture with my hands but he caught on pretty quick. We did that for a bit and then!!” He was bouncing a bit, one hand on top of Wilbur's to make sure the other didn’t mistake his excitement for trying to get him off. <br/>“I got the words out! I told him that he didn’t need to be upset about it and that one day he’d feel better about it and he said that he thinks the same about me”</p><p>It was rare to see Techno so excited but it was also rare to have a situation as big as this, Phil didn’t even reply for the first few seconds, pulling the others into yet another hug. </p><p>Today had a lot of hugs. </p><p>“Tech’ that’s amazing. I don’t even know how to say how proud I am of you, you’re really doing so well.” </p><p>As the bigger the thing needed to be praised got, Phil found that adequate praise was harder and harder to articulate. How could he even put it into words just how proud he was? </p><p>“You’re doing so so well, This was something massive for you and you really beat it, this was such a big step in the right direction, I’m so proud of you Techno. I’m incredibly proud of all of you.”</p><p>The four of them sat together, all huddled up in a happy little pile before Phil gently moved out of it and stood up. </p><p>“I think we all deserve ice cream and a movie, who’s with me?”</p><p>Who would say no to ice cream and a movie?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>lmao would you guys believe i failed my english mocks?<br/>also failed science and Geography UWU im just built diff </p><p>Hyper-fixation on dreamsmp go BRRRRRRR</p><p>for those of you that care the word count is 2727</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Ponyo goes well with Pasta and love</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>After the long day at the park, everyone deserves a bit of a cool down</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>aka author has an addiction to writing people bonding over movies</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Since the day had been so much more eventful than usual, the boys had decided to head home a little earlier than usual, Tommy insisting on being carried the whole way. He had been whining about his shoes hurting his feet but Phil knew he was probably just upset from all the fighting and needed some reassurance that they were all happy again now. Anyway, it wasn’t as if Phil really minded carrying him at all, albeit he was tall for his age, he was still relatively light. </p><p>Once home, all four of them seemed to loiter in the kitchen, nobody really wanting to disperse out in case something bad happened again. Eventually Phil just sighed and started making dinner, deciding that they deserved a proper cooked meal instead of the stuff from Uber eats, he wasn’t exactly a chef though and he didn’t have the widest array of ingredients to choose from so in the end he chose to just make some chicken pasta. It was quick and easy but more importantly it would keep his brothers fed. </p><p>“Toms, you wanna help with the sauce?” </p><p>Usually Tommy loved helping make meals, going off pouting and whining if he was told he wasn’t able to help. This time was a bit different though, he hadn’t jumped up and sprinted to the oven like Phil had predicted, he hadn’t given him that iconic grin that he always seemed to have plastered on his face. No, instead he got up solemnly and nodded, walking over to where Phil was standing.<br/>
It was an adorable sight but it would be flat out irresponsible to keep him up when he was so obviously exhausted from the day, Phil would be lying if he said he wasn’t too. </p><p>“Oh okay bud, you wanna have a nap before dinner?” Phil chuckled and turned the heating down on the stove before trying to gently guide the youngest into the living room to lay down.</p><p>“Nooooo” Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Tommy tried to squirm his way back into the kitchen, wanting to hang out with his brothers<br/>
“Philll...Come onnn Phillll I’m not a baby I can stay awake”</p><p>“Didn’t say you were, naps aren’t just for babies Toms” Phil chuckled at the irony of having to reassure a seven year old he wasn’t being babyish<br/>
“Come on bud, I’ll wake you up before dinner, you just seem very sleepy, I don’t want you to get sick or anything”</p><p>“I’ll go to bed early! C’monnn” He carried on whining until Phil stopped trying to guide him out of the room and instead just crouched down beside him, getting him to lay down obviously wasn’t working so he wanted to try a different approach. </p><p>Phil held out his pinky finger</p><p>“Okay how about this, I pinky promise that I won't force you to lay down for a nap if you tell me what’s going on” </p><p>“‘M worried” Head tilted to the floor, Tommy mumbled his response as he linked his pinky with Phil’s<br/>
“Don’t want anyone to get hurt or sad again”</p><p>Oh. Phil’s heart swelled up so much that he was sure it was about to break, pulling Tommy into a hug and giving him a little kiss on the forehead, Phil tried his very best to reassure him that everything was going to be okay with Wil and Techno. It was hard, these were the kind of moments where he wished the adults in their lives were a bit more prevalent, it would help so much to have a parent around right now, someone who knew what the best thing to say would be. </p><p>“Oh Tommy” Phil had breathed out as he hugged his small body close, arms wrapped around him protectively.<br/>
“Techno and Wil are gonna be okay, Wil’s just a bit shaken up right now, he needs a lot of comfort from Tech’ to feel happy right now but that doesn’t mean he isn’t going to be happy, just that Techno needs to be here for it.”</p><p>Tommy nodded into his chest, glancing over at his other two brothers who were still at the table<br/>
“But what if he never ever feels good again?”</p><p>“He will, I can add that onto the pinky promise, he just loves Techno lots and lots and he got very scared when Techno wasn’t there, you understand that part right?” after getting a little nod from Tommy, Phil continued<br/>
“Well after a scare that big it’s hard to go back to normal straight away isn’t it? Remember when you watched that scary movie and you couldn’t sleep alone for a week? It’s that type of scared”<br/>
The analogy of the scary movie seemed to help it snap in, Tommy nodding with a little smile spread on his cheeks. </p><p>“So...he’s scared of Tech’ getting stuck again? So he wants to stay with him?” Phil nodded and Tommy grinned<br/>
“I’m gonna make sure Techno never gets stuck anywhere ever again! Then Wil won't be upset!”</p><p>After that, Phil had given up entirely on trying to get Tommy to rest, letting him just sit with his brothers since that seemed to make him happy anyway, just going back to cooking the dinner for the boys.</p><p>At some point during the time it took to cook the meal, Wilbur and Techno had gone off upstairs, causing Tommy to pout and slouch over the table, only to return again when Wilbur had retrieved his guitar. The mood in the kitchen was soft, everyone was comfortable since thighs were okay now but there was still the underlying feeling of just being so exhausted that nobody really felt like talking much. That was fine though, Phil was sure he’d develop a headache if the house was as loud as it normally was. </p><p>“Any requests?” Wil had smiled as he cautiously let go of Techno’s hand, moving to hold his guitar properly. Since Techno hadn’t immediately gone to holding his arm, presumably thinking Wil wanted the contact to stop, Wil gently took Techno’s hand and moved it onto his arm so there was still contact even when he was playing his music. An almost inaudible apology came from Techno, clearly purposeful so Wil would know it was for him. </p><p>“Do the girl one!” Tommy perked up, sitting on his knees as he looked up at his brother with big eyes, full of adoration “Vienna! Do that one!”</p><p>Wil smiled as slid his hand on the fretboard until it was in the right position, starting to strum quietly and sing along, at some point Tommy had decided to join in too, singing the second verse with him, albeit a little off key but it was an incredibly sweet moment.<br/>
The next song had come without the need to stop and ask for requests, knowing Tommy would stop him if he thought of anything he really wanted to hear. </p><p>Wil had started, Phil was well aware how dark some of the lyrics to his songs were but he didn’t see a reason to intervene, music was a good outlet for him to get rid of any nasty feelings, plus Techno had mentioned before how sometimes their therapist looked at them to get a wider view on how Wilbur was doing since he sometimes found it hard to articulate messy feelings. Honestly, Phil was proud that he had come up with such a healthy way of sorting his thoughts out.</p><p>Halfway through Saline Solution, Phil had placed each boy’s food on the table, taking into account what portions they each preferred and whether they liked cheese on their pasta or not. Wil finished up the song and placed his guitar to lean against the wall behind him, going back to holding Techno’s hand, well aware of how awkward it was going to be to eat with his left hand.<br/>
At least it was pasta though, he could just stab it with the fork, eating that with his left hand wouldn’t be too hard. </p><p>Dinner was quiet too, there was no tension or awkwardness, just a steady feeling of comfortable silence as everyone ate their food. As always, Tommy had wolfed his down first and was now gulping down his water, whining about not being a kid when Phil insisted on wiping the sauce from around his face. Next was Techno, then Phil and then finally Wilbur was finished too. The meal had been simple but it was clear from the way everyone cleared their bowls that it had been much appreciated. </p><p>“I recall promising Ice cream and a movie, you guys go in and choose the movie and I’ll clean up in here and get the Ice cream”</p><p>Wilbur seemed to look a little hesitant about leaving the room at first, shifting his eyes between the door and Phil a couple times before Techno gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and he was filled with the courage to go without the guaranteed protection of his big brother. </p><p>Phil stuck to his word, cleaning out each dish and placing them on the drying rack before getting each boy a bowl of ice cream, Mint for himself, Vanilla for Tommy, Chocolate for Wilbur and Raspberry for Techno. Everyone got some sprinkles, a flake and strawberry syrup over their dessert as well, well almost everyone since Wilbur’s bowl got Chocolate syrup instead.<br/>
Going into the living room, he saw that the boys had chosen to watch Ponyo. It was a cute movie really, he remembered when Wilbur and Techno were still little, around Tommy’s age, saying that Techno was Ponyo and Wil was Sosuke all because they were going to be best friends forever too. </p><p>This movie definitely brought back some good memories. </p><p>The four of them snuggled up on the couch as the movie started playing, the dubbed one of course since Tommy was still learning to read.<br/>
“This is nice,” Phil sighed as he relaxed into the comfort of his family, feeling the soft fabric of Wilbur’s jumper brush against him. </p><p>The movie had sufficiently cheered everyone up it seemed, there were lots of sleepy smiles filling the room. Phil thought the name of the ‘sleepy bois’ was still extremely perfect. It had been Techno’s idea to go up and get an early night’s sleep and everyone seemed to agree, Tommy was due one anyway since he had insisted on not needing a nap, he definitely looked like he was regretting that now as his head kept dropping every few seconds. It was sweet but it also meant Phil was going to have to carry him up. </p><p>“C’mon Toms” Phil chuckled as he lifted him up, trailing behind Wilbur and Techno as everyone went to brush their teeth, Phil needing to half wrestle Tommy to do it since he was practically falling asleep where he was. Eventually though, the boy had clean teeth, a washed face and was changed into his pyjamas and finally Phil was able to set him into bed.<br/>
“Night bud, you were really good today, I’m super proud of you”<br/>
With one last hug, Phil left the room to go and say goodnight to the twins too. </p><p>-----</p><p>“Hey Tech’?” Wilbur mumbled after Phil had left, carefully placing his guitar back on the wall<br/>
“I know we’re getting a bit uh.. I know we’re getting a bit old for this but man you know how today was just really...bad?”</p><p>“Fucking hell Wil, Yes you can sleep with me, you don’t need to dodge the question. Plus, I thought it would just be assumed by now, I’m hardly going to force you to get freaked out on your own” </p><p>Wil grinned and nodded, thanking Techno before sitting down on the bottom bunk, leaning against Techno when he sat down</p><p>“You’re still stiff” Techno stated as he placed a hand comfortingly on Wilbur’s hair<br/>
“You don’t need to worry, I’m not planning on going anywhere. Today only happened because I got overwhelmed, I’d never purposefully make you go through this”</p><p>Wilbur nodded, burying his head in Techno’s shoulder as he sighed, trying to compose himself a bit more before he spoke. </p><p>“I know. I should have listened to you too. I got so angry that I forgot I was doing it to protect you guys and ended up hurting you instead.”</p><p>Sighing, Techno flopped backwards on the bed, life was complicated and weird sometimes.</p><p>“It’s fine Wil, I already said I’m not mad, you were just frustrated. You’ll be fine though, nobody’s planning on hurting anyone anymore. On Wednesday we -or maybe really just you guys- will talk to the Dream Team about everything that’s been happening. It’ll be okay.”</p><p>The conversation was caught short by a small knock on their door, and then a little head of blonde hair peeking through as Tommy slowly opened it, still not really understanding that you needed to wait after knocking. A visit from the boy had been surprising, considering how he had been struggling to even hold himself up earlier. </p><p>“Guys?” He mumbled as he walked in, closing the door behind him, a plush pig Techno had got for him one year held in his arms.<br/>
“I got worried. I couldn’t sleep” </p><p>Making sure to grab Wilbur’s hand first, Techno got up and gently led the boy onto the bed with them. </p><p>“Hang out with us for a bit then, we won't tell Phil if you end up staying up late, it’s hardly your fault if you can’t sleep” Wil hummed, making no effort to scooch across on the bed. He loved Tommy but he was not going to move away from Techno just so Tommy could be in the middle. Eventually they ended up with Tommy by the wall, Techno in the middle and Wil on the outside. It was a squish considering it was a twin sized bed but once Tommy moved to be laying on Techno’s chest than the bed, it was a lot more comfortable and snuggly for everyone. </p><p>“Toms do you wanna watch Up? That’s your favourite film right?”</p><p>The boy nodded excitedly, squirming over his older siblings to be the first one to grab the laptop off the nightstand. </p><p>Nobody had really meant to fall asleep like that but they had, Techno’s hair was an absolute state in the morning since he hadn’t even braided it before going to bed. While the wake up of being cuddled from all sides was kinda nice, he absolutely didn’t want it every night if he would need to spend an hour doing his very simple hairdo in the morning.<br/>
For once though, Phil hadn’t forgotten his phone and when he went to wake up the boys, he couldn’t help but snap a picture to keep as a memory for when they were older. The view of them all cuddled up had just been way too sweet! </p><p>That being said, they were late for school.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>dood idk if im doing my whole overshare on de internet thing again but i was diagnosed with ADHD when i was 14 so i didn't really NEED to tell my school, like it probably would have helped if i did but i was being all stubborn like "no what the fuck" because until there were positive role models like Dream and Techno who werent really ashamed of it at all i was like straight up SO EMBARRASSED. anyway what im saying is i know i CAN legally get extra time on exams if i tell my school about it but ive waited for SO LONG NOW AND NOW IM EMBARRASSED FOR A WHOLE NEW REASON BECAUSE THEY'LL BE LIKE "idiot child why did you wait until your final year to tell us this no wonder youre failing"</p><p>also leave kudos because im extremely competitive for no reason</p><p>EDIT: ALSO ALSO TELL ME IF YOU'D LIKE ME TO ALSO WRITE LIKE ONE SHOTS AND DRABBLES FROM THIS UNIVERSE BECAUSE I HAVE SO MANY THINGS FOR THIS AU THAT DONT FIT IN WITH THE MAIN STORY, IDK I MIGHT OPEN REQUESTS IF YOU GUYS HAVE ANY SITUATIONS YOU REALLY WANNA SEE SO LET ME KNOW</p><p>word count: 2498</p>
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<a name="section0018"><h2>18. not a chapter but please read</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>hullo :)<br/>
It is me i am here after a while, I'm gonna explain why I disappeared and then I'll talk a little about how things are gonna work and stuff i guess</p><p>So right now my personal life is very very messy, my mental health isn't really in the best place and everything is making me overwhelmed like all the time, a lot of things are changing for me right now and i'm just not very good with change but I'm working through it. I've spoken to my therapist about whats going on and yknow ptsd pogchamp //csa/grooming tw for this section// it's coming up to two years since my groomer r/ped me and I'm really really struggling with the memories right now so obviously my focus hasn't been on working on this fic. </p><p>However, in the time i took off,  i did plan out the details of the next few chapters so they wont take long to write at all, I just need to flesh them out a bit before they're complete chapters. Writing this fic makes me really happy and i really love rereading all of your lovely comments whenever i'm feeling bad, it makes me so happy that people are enjoying the stuff i put out so please never feel annoying or like you're pressuring me if you ever want to ask about updates, i promise getting stuff in da inbox is a good motivator, it reminds me that this fic exists and i can use it as a way to cope and stuff. </p><p>I'm not on AO3 24/7 so if anyone ever needs to contact me ill leave my tumblr :D</p><p>Tumblr:@/innittowinit<br/>


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<p>this fic gets cross posted on tumblr only btw, if you ever see it on a site like wattpad that isnt me lmao</p><p>ty for reading, im starting work on the next chapter tonight or tomorrow, it should be out tomorrow or the next few days depending on how focused i am</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. A calmness to the air</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Wilbur and Techno go to school, eat lunch, and go to class B)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>School lunches were…..well they were school lunches. No matter how many people they painstakingly explained why they were the way they were to, there were always people that just never seemed to get it. That was fine, neither Wil nor Techno had ever asked for understanding, having learnt far too early that that was a big ask, instead they would gladly settle for respect. All they had ever really asked for was basic respect, all they wanted was for people to accept that they were going to stay together and that, no, Techno was not going to talk to them just because they gave him notes from class one time or helped clean his desk. </p><p>Teenage boys didn’t really seem to grasp the concept of respect. When they saw something they didn’t understand their reaction was to mock it, to make whoever was doing it so humiliated and ashamed that they wouldn’t dare make them confused ever again. Again, Techno and Wilbur both had a lot of experience with this, they knew what bullying was like and what was happening right now didn’t feel the same as the kids that had hurled insults at them in primary school. Nothing was physical anymore but it still hurt when they walked past the ‘popular’ group and they could hear the muffled conversations being had about them. </p><p>Wil had always been much more of a people person than Techno had, maybe that’s why it bothered him so much more that the fact that they were close seemed to confuse everyone else so much, Techno could tell that Wil desperately craved for a group of friends their own age that understood them and didn’t question it. Unfortunately, people like that were hard to come by. </p><p>They had Niki and they had Eret, that’s all they needed.</p><p>“It’s a nice place to chill out”<br/>
Eret hummed as they led the twins out towards the school field, all three boys holding their lunches in their hands as Eret had said that today was a nice day and they’d be having a picnic outside instead.<br/>
Technically, year 9’s weren’t allowed on the field at lunch anymore, at least not since Quackity (as he had been nicknamed around the school) stole a duck from the lake that bordered it. It was lucky that all three of them were pretty tall for their age, meaning they blended in well with the year 10’s that were playing football on the main section of the field, with the added bonus that nobody in that year really knew them so that meant no harassment. </p><p>Eret had led the twins to the very back end of the field, all the way to the rocky border of where the lake began, only stopping when he reached an old oak tree that’s trunk was considerably wider than any of the boy’s torso’s, taking his seat on top of his coat against the tree’s bark. </p><p>“What’s up with you guys today? if you don’t mind me asking, if it’s personal or anything that’s fine,you’re just not normally this….touchy? With each other. I probably worded that bad but you understand what I mean right?”</p><p>Wilbur nodded and then glanced to Techno for permission to tell the story, who simply shrugged in response. Both boys took their seats next to the tree and began unwrapping their lunches as Wilbur sorted out the events in his head, everything had happened so so fast and in slow motion, seemingly simultaneously, giving it a hazy and confusing feeling to try and look back on. He supposed that’s just how panic attacks felt in hindsight though, the adrenaline would make things feel fast and stressful of course, while the long reality gave it a much slower feeling than what was true. </p><p>“Techno got stuck in a shed yesterday” Blunt. It was easier to simplify it, Wilbur realised. </p><p>“Huh? How’d that happen?”</p><p>“I got in a fight with these boys who live near us, Techno got overwhelmed and left, the door got stuck and I freaked out. I dunno I didn’t realise i was being more touchy than normal but if i am it’ll probably be because I’m still a little bit shaken up I guess” </p><p>The fact that it had been brought attention to made everything seem a lot more obvious, suddenly he felt far more self conscious about having held Techno’s hand all day, about how he skipped music in favour of sitting with his brother in French, hell, even about how he had shifted himself when they sat down so that even when they were eating their knees were still touching. He hadn’t wanted to admit it but all the thoughts of whether or not he was ever going to see Techno again had culminated into a big ball in his stomach that seemed to grow whenever Techno stopped touching him. The reassurance that everything was okay was so so important to him and even if it was embarrassing to realise that he had been clinging onto his twin the whole day, he had known Techno long enough to know that if the touch was getting to be too much, he’d let him know, otherwise he’d just let him burn out all the anxiety until he was sufficiently reassured that nobody was planning on abandoning him. </p><p>After what had happened yesterday, Phil had called up their therapist and booked an ‘emergency session’ (Wilbur didn’t think it was an emergency but appreciated it nonetheless) so they could have a professional help work through what had happened.<br/>
As much as he’d like to provide everything his brothers could ever need all by himself, he was mature enough to realise that some things couldn’t be handled by a 16 year old boy, he loved his brothers to bits and that’s exactly why he wanted them to have every chance needed to get better; the idea of them having to wait multiple days until their usual appointment made him feel a bit sick, they’d gone through something incredibly scary and they deserved to feel at least a little better before then. Said appointment was scheduled to be directly after school today so he wasn’t too stressed about clinging onto Techno for a long time anyway. </p><p>“Oh i didn’t realise it was something like that, sorry for bringing it up”<br/>
Eret sighed, clearly a little guilty after having seen Wilbur try to decide whether he wanted to let go of Techno and be scared or stay and be clingy. He seemed thankful that the decision had ended up being to stay ‘clingy’, he wasn’t sure how he’d deal with it if he put Wilbur through all of that again just from a poorly worded comment. </p><p>Techno shook his head, glancing about a bit before deciding that nobody was paying them any mind.<br/>
“You’re fine.” He muttered, patting his hand on Eret’s shoulder and tearing off a corner of his sandwich, popping it in his mouth afterwards, chewing a bit before talking again.<br/>
“It’s not the first time it’s happened. Wil’s gonna be fine”</p><p>With a little nod, Eret visibly relaxed, of course it made sense to trust Techno on this topic far more than his own instincts, he’d known Wilbur far far longer and they did everything together. The confirmation that whatever damage wasn’t permanent seemed to provide some kind of comfort to him. </p><p>There it was again, Techno thought, that immediate acceptance. No questioning. No badgering. Nothing. He knew well enough that there were aspects that Eret didn’t fully understand since he hadn’t lived their life but the fact that he never once tried to press them to talk more than what they were comfortable with, or ask exceedingly personal questions like some people did, it just made Techno, at least if not Wilbur too, feel very seen and heard. </p><p>Many times in the past they’d been ‘friends’ with people who were really just using them as some kind of badge or token like- ‘oh look at me! I’m so nice I managed to get the weird kids to talk to me’. It always made Techno sick to his stomach when he realised someone he had trusted would betray them like that, to simply use them and nothing else. Techno was sure that Eret was not like this, he was real and down to earth and good, everything about him screamed trustworthy.<br/>
At least now they had a good, real friend, who both of them were incredibly thankful for. </p><p>“Oh shit” There was a beeping noise coming from Eret’s phone, causing him to chance at the screen and groan “I’ve gotta go, I’ll see you later i guess if we have any classes together”</p><p>With that, she packed up her things into little ziplock bags so they wouldn’t spill in her bag and closed everything up, backpack swung onto her shoulders before she waved and jogged back to the main school.</p><p>---</p><p>School was pretty uneventful the rest of the day, after lunch they had had science (or Techno had science and Wilbur refused to go to his own classroom) and Techno’s violin lesson. </p><p>“I’m not going anywhere y’know?” Techno sighed as they waited in the empty corridor for his teacher to show up, Wilbur latched onto him like a lost puppy.</p><p>“I know but every time you go behind a door or anything my head gets so loud and it feels like you’re gonna get stuck again. I don’t wanna annoy you, it’s just hard”</p><p>Techno sighed and pat Wilbur on the head, he wasn’t really up for a long conversation right now considering that even though the corridor was empty, it could quickly become not empty. </p><p>“You don’t annoy me, Wilbs”</p><p>In all honesty that was only half true, of course he would never have any strong feelings of anger and annoyance at his brother when he was only doing what was necessary to feel safe but when he was being grabbed and prodded at all the time, there was admittedly a part of him that wished they’d been brought up normally. In any case, any anger that came from Wilbur getting clingy at times was never directed at Wil himself, instead it was more so towards their parents for causing the damage in the first place. </p><p>“I’ve got both today? Oh that’s just great, go on in boys!” </p><p>Techno was brought out of his mind by his violin teacher walking up, a kind smile on her face as she greeted them. She had been one of the few people who accepted them for them from day one, of course at first she’d been a little hesitant considering she was only being paid to teach one boy but once Wilbur explained that he didn't even own a violin and he was just there because they did not split up she seemed to be fine with Wil sitting in during the lessons. Plus, it was a lot easier having someone who could translate Techno’s little shrugs and grunts. </p><p>Taking his violin out of the case, Techno situated himself in front of the music stand, flipping his folder to the piece they had been working on recently, Wilbur pulling up a chair and holding onto one of his belt loops, not wanting to grab his arm or anything big like that right now since playing the violin kind of needed your arms. </p><p>“Are we carrying on from last lesson? Getting lots of practice in at home, I hope!” </p><p>Techno nodded to both questions, he hadn’t really practiced as hard as usual but the week had been eventful so that was fine. </p><p>“Okay then, can I check if you’re tuned up? and then we’ll get started” </p><p>Leaning against the wall shortly afterwards, Techno handed the woman his violin, giving Wilbur a sympathetic smile when he saw the boy staring off into space. Surely he had places he would rather be than listening to Techno play his music, he didn’t even play the kind of music Wilbur liked!<br/>
God. Times like this reminded him why he shouldn’t give up, it reminded him that getting help wasn’t going to ‘break’ the special bond they had, instead it would only strengthen it since they’d both have the freedom to do what they like. </p><p>“There we go!”<br/>
“..Thanks”</p><p>The rest of the lesson was best described as peaceful, as different as Techno’s Classical violin concerto’s were to Wilbur’s indie guitar songs, he really did love listening to him play. There was a certain calmness that resonated whenever he did so, a wave of serenity that only painted his face whenever he was completely engrossed in a piece. The music was always things Wil would never go out of his way to listen to and if it wasn’t his brother playing he was sure he wouldn’t have such a strong connection to the music but right here, right now, listening to the careful notes was almost like a compulsion, beckoning him to stare at the dancing bow that was being pulled against the strings in a complete virtuosic pattern. </p><p>And so, as the beautiful music decorated the air, Wil decided that everything was okay, no matter how messed up they were, everything was going to be okay.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>after my last post i think its incredibly obvious that this was a comfort chapter</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. is this friendship?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Eret's been acting...strange<br/>Techno senses somethings definitely off</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>okay okay SORRY FOR DISAPPEARING AGAIN<br/>i promise im gonna stay for a while this time</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Friendships were a complex thing. Techno had known that as long as he could remember. People come and people go, it was nothing, especially not to him or Wilbur. Inherently, they knew all they had was each other, maybe their other brothers would also always be with them but what they had together was a special bond. Neither Phil nor Tommy would ever be able to understand them the way they understood each other and that was fine, they had lived every day side by side, they shared almost all their core memories and so their rationality was incredibly similar because of it, meaning they could very easily understand each other. </p><p>Never had they asked for a friend that would feel the same way as the friendship they had with each other, and yet they always seemed to be asking for too much. That’s the part that confused Techno. </p><p>Never had they needed to be understood. Never had they needed something complex. All they needed was someone to accept them so why did it feel like everyone always ended up leaving? Were they the problem? It always felt like they were trying so hard so why did it feel like they were pushing people away? </p><p>You see, recently Eret had been acting….off. </p><p>He had been stumbling over words, fidgeting, leaving quickly with the excuse of ‘being late for something’, and taking hours to reply to any kind of message. Each of these things would be fine on their own but with them all together, they felt a little strange. <br/>It didn’t seem like Wilbur had noticed the recent shift in behaviour yet so Techno didn’t dare bring it up, it wasn’t uncommon that he was overly cautious and he didn’t want to risk upsetting his brother over something that might not even be a big deal, especially when he had just started to get over the incident with the ticket booth. </p><p>“So....He’s been busy a lot lately” Wilbur sighed, draping himself across the couch and clutching his phone in one hand. Niki had insisted they add some stickers onto it since letting them live off a ‘boring flip phone’ (as she had called it) was apparently not okay.<br/>“Do you think he’s okay? Maybe something’s going on at home..”</p><p>Oh. Techno was positive everything was okay at home. Of course there was a possibility that he was just being protective of Wilbur because he didn’t want anyone hurting his brother but seriously! In his opinion, if you had enough money to eat fucking burger king as a school lunch you were doing fine financially, and really, that’s all that mattered right? Money had always been the reason why their parents were never around.</p><p>It was probably just his jealousy talking but he had always had a bit of an underlying anger for people with a big disposable income, how was it fair that their parents had to work so much at minimum wage jobs that they could hardly see them just to keep them warm and fed and yet other families could have their parents around by the time they were home from school /and/ have extra money for treats.</p><p>“Wil, don’t worry about him.” Techno sighed, trying to choose his words carefully. He knew Wilbur was always more sensitive to rejection than him.<br/>“He’s more..social than we are, he probably just has other friends that he doesn’t want to ignore or something”</p><p>“Maybe.. I wish he’d tell us though, I don’t like being left on read” </p><p>With a sigh and a gentle prod for him to sit up a bit more, Techno wrapped an arm around Wilbur, feeling how he melted into the contact straight away. Of course it hurt Techno too to be ignored by the one person they thought actually could be a good friend but he needed to put on a brave face for Wilbur. Of course it felt like a stab in the gut to have trusted someone so much to be able to start talking to them and then they just disappear but Wilbur needed him right now, it was obvious to anyone that he was the one with the bigger connection issues. </p><p>“Wil, trusting people is a part of being friends. We can talk to him tomorrow alright? And we can explain that it would make you feel better if he said his plans before disappearing”</p><p>-----</p><p>It was Tuesday night and other than a few memes she had screenshotted off of instagram and sent them, they hadn’t really heard much at all from Eret. She hadn’t hung around them long enough at school for either of them to really bring it up with her and honestly, Techno was getting incredibly worried about what was going on. He’d never had a real friend like this before, of course Skeppy always made him laugh but he was family so he didn’t count, if he messed up with family he knew as long as they weren’t adults they’d still love him afterwards, friends worked differently though. He had his Hypixel friends too but they didn’t count either since they were online and he could type to them on days when he was struggling more. By now he’d known them so long they were basically family, they’d all taken hours out of their own time to research Techno’s problems to try and be as accommodating as possible- all in all he really couldn't compare them with Eret.</p><p>It was tricky and he knew communication was one of the more important parts, which was ironically what he struggled with the most. Maybe on one of his worse-off days, where he normally would have had Wilbur doing most of the talking for him, Eret had assumed he was angry with her or giving her the silent treatment, maybe she had taken offence to the fact that Wilbur and Techno were very obviously closer than she was with each one of them. The thought that somehow they might have made her feel left out made him feel a little sick, had they not explained well enough what had led to this point? Maybe it was selfish for them to relish in the fact that she rarely bugged them for explanations.</p><p>All in all, Techno was sure they had done something for the sudden shift in attitude and, not wanting to make Wilbur feel worse than he already did, he wasn’t sure who could help him. <br/>Maybe he could wait up until his parents got home? People on TV were always getting advice from them but then again.. His family wasn’t really like those on tv, if he was being honest he was half sure he’d be yelled at for being awake before he could have a chance to ask for help. <br/>He could also ask Phil, but then again Phil was already beyond stressed trying to make sure they were all okay, he really didn’t want to bother him. Niki was closer to Wilbur than she was with him and he was sure his hypixel friends were all still at school because of the time zone difference. <br/>The only other person he could really think of talking to about this was Skeppy, and so, hopping out of bed, trying his hardest not to make too much noise and wake up Wilbur, he made his way to the PC. </p><p>11:36PM </p><p>From what he knew, Skeppy usually stayed up late and slept so late he often missed his bus anyway so he probably was still up.<br/>Clicking onto discord, he breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the green dot next to his cousin's icon, immediately messaging him. </p><p>11:36 OrphanDestroyer: Hey nerd<br/>11:36 OrphanDestroyer: U awake?</p><p>It took a few minutes for him to answer, Techno was just about ready to give up and accept he had just chosen the one night he may have gone to bed on time to try and message him.</p><p>11:42 japanesesymbolforbeginner: 1 sec ina call wiv bbh </p><p>Writing ‘bbh’ off as one of Skeppy’s friends he had forgotten to tell them about, Techno waited patiently for Skeppy to say he was free. </p><p>11:46 japanesesymbolforbeginner: ok im done, what you need</p><p>11:46 OrphanDestroyer: SO<br/>11:46 OrphanDestroyer: Do you remember Eret?<br/>11:48 OrphanDestroyer: Okay well basically for like the past few days he’s been ignoring me and Wilbs and I’m really really worried we offended him or something like maybe we hurt him or he’s mad or maybe he decided he's too good to be friends with us which tbh I don't blame him for because we kinda are losers and maybe people won't be friends with him because he's friends with us or something? Idk idk I just really wish he’d tell us something because like Wil is freaking out and idk what to tell him, he really struggles with this kinda stuff and I wanna help but idk how. </p><p>11:48 japanesesymbolforbeginner: Ok...fuck<br/>11:48 japanesesymbolforbeginner: Has he replied to any messages or anything? Maybe he’s busy?</p><p>11:48 OrphanDestroyer: Not really </p><p>11:49 japanesesymbolforbeginner: Okay okay so here’s what I think you should do<br/>11:49 japanesesymbolforbeginner: If he’s ignoring you you're gonna need to confront him next time you see him and don’t just agree when he makes an excuse to leave, like say you NEED to talk<br/>11:50 japanesesymbolforbeginner: If u think he’s offended bc sometimes you don't speak a lot maybe just message him some resources or whatever on the type of mutism you deal with, even if he doesn’t reply he’ll probably still open it.<br/>11:50 japanesesymbolforbeginner: like he might just be in the position where he’s nervous he’ll offend you if he asks something about it? Like maybe he doesn't understand fully and he just needs one of you to open the discussion </p><p>11:50 OrphanDestroyer: okay you're probably right<br/>11:50 OrphanDestroyer: There’s a link I have to one I normally email teachers whenever we have a new one so i'll probably send him that<br/>11:50 OrphanDestroyer: Tomorrow though, my dads gonna be home soon and he’ll kill me if im still awake </p><p>11:51 japanesesymbolforbeginner: aight, night Techno, good luck and btw you're all always welcome to come over if things get tense over there with ur parents</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>oooooooooo its nearing the good stuff lol</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Friends?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>sometimes school gets tough but friends are always there to lend a hand right?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Yeah… It was starting to get a little obvious that Eret was avoiding them, when they had passed him a note in science he immediately bunched it into his pocket, when they tried to catch him between lessons he acted like he was in a rush and when they tried to find him at break it was like he had just vanished into thin air. Wil wasn’t stupid. He had been suspicious since the texts started to diminish but now it was pretty much just a plane fact, as much as it pained him to admit, he had hoped this time would be different and they could actually keep a friend for once but he guessed that was just wishful thinking. </p><p>Really, it wasn’t common for Wil to be the one zoning out in class, that was definitely more something Techno would do, but of course anyone would be a little distracted if they were trying to figure out friendship issues when they were so inexperienced. Maybe that’s why he hadn’t noticed Techno tugging on his sleeve at first. </p><p>A little flashcard was slid across the desk, a note from his brother it seemed.<br/>
‘Can we leave for a bit? I need a break’ </p><p>Obviously, the note had to be short to fit on the small piece of paper, plus it wasn’t necessarily needed considering Wil could usually understand the problem from the tugging alone.<br/>
Not wanting a repeat of the ticket-booth incident, Wil scrambled in his pocket for a little laminated slip of paper, hopping up and quickly going to the teacher’s desk to place it before ushering his brother out of the room. </p><p>Recently, the staff had been trying to help them a little more, Wil thought it definitely seemed like their therapist had emailed them or something by the looks of it, that or they had noticed how shaken up Wil had been recently and wanted to try and be as accommodating as possible. That being said, recently they had each been given a little pass that could let them leave the classroom without question if they gave it to a teacher, meaning they’d no longer be getting in trouble every time one of them was just having an overall bad day and wasn’t able to deal with that environment. </p><p>Once out of the room, Wil breathed a sigh of relief and started to lead Techno down to an empty classroom where they could hopefully talk about why the card had to be used. </p><p>Now that they were alone, Techno was visibly more comfortable, going forward to sit on one of the desks as he fiddled with his ponytail. More often than not, there wasn’t some big emotional gesture whenever they left, sometimes a TA would come and find them with some work they could be doing on their own but generally they seemed to understand that sometimes they weren’t in a state to be doing the work. </p><p>“Are you okay then?” Wil hummed as he hopped up to sit on the desk too, flopping backwards a bit.<br/>
“I think that’s the first time I remembered to give the card in first”</p><p>“I’m okay, just a lot of noise in there”<br/>
A sigh escaped his lips as he leaned his head on Wilbur’s shoulder, gently pushing Wil’s thigh a little bit away from his own since having thing’s touching him when he hadn’t consciously decided for it never really helped with sensory overload. As always though, Wilbur was understanding, always trying to be careful with Techno whenever he needed a break. </p><p>“I was thinking..” Techno had hummed “we can just like...talk to Eret, right? Like if we tell him it’s important and that we noticed he’s been running off lately, no way he’d just leave then, Right?”</p><p>Wilbur gave a solem little nod, appearing to finally accept the reality that maybe they had messed up and pushed their friend away. With a little bite onto the inside of his cheek, it was obvious that he was mulling over their past few interactions, searching and scanning for any kind of answer for how they might have hurt him. </p><p>“We need to meet up with Dream and his lot after school though so maybe we should leave it till tomorrow? I know Phil will be there but I don't want to risk getting all emotional again”</p><p>With another nod, Wilbur took out his phone, tapping on the old arrow buttons until he got to Eret’s contact, just wanting to review what they had said to him once more.</p><p>---</p><p>Message history:</p><p>Saturday 7:34 PM<br/>
Eret:<br/>
*Image attachment*<br/>
Eret:<br/>
Reminded me of you two lol</p><p>                Wilby Soot:<br/>
Much agreed, Much agreed<br/>
Wilby Soot:<br/>
Hang out later?</p><p>Eret:<br/>
Cant, busy :/ Another time</p><p>        Monday 4:45 PM<br/>
Wilby Soot:<br/>
Tech wants to know if you’re gonna play mc with him</p><p>Eret:<br/>
Homework UGH<br/>
Eret:<br/>
Busy man sorry :/</p><p>        Tuesday 8:58 PM<br/>
Wilby Soot:<br/>
Let us know if we overstepped any boundaries okay x<br/>
Wilby Soot:<br/>
We aren’t really used to this stuff, we care abt you tho</p><p>---</p><p>It felt a bit depressing to be looking over all the old messages, the feeling was akin to when you eat too much and wake up in the middle of the night feeling super nauseous.</p><p>Alas though, life never seemed to go easy on the two brothers as the door to the door to the empty classroom’s door swung right open. At first, Wil had thought it was a teacher coming to deliver some work for them to do but as he heard the familiar sound of yelling and laughter, he soon realised the much more likely reality of it being a group of boys who were skipping class.</p><p>Quickly, fight or flight seemed to kick in, letting him shuffle back over to Techno and grab hold of his hand, just in case. It was pretty much a given that they were going to be getting made fun of, sure the majority of students left them alone now, taking about them behind their back at worst, but the kind of guys who carelessly skipped without any reason definitely felt like the type that would tease them for being so close. They didn’t understand. They wouldn’t understand. They just hadn’t experienced life like they had. </p><p>The mantra repeated in his head as he controlled his breathing, forcing his eyes to the floor as he waited to be laughed at. This wasn’t exactly a rare occurrence but that didn’t mean it was all nice and fine, he just had to keep himself calm, for Techno, he couldn’t let his brother be stranded without someone who could interpret for him. </p><p>The laughter had pretty much died down as the group came to stand in front of them, seemingly now aware of their presence in the classroom, but the teasing didn’t start straight away. Certainly, this felt like something strange so Wilbur gingerly lifted his head back up only to be met with the familiar tall frame of his friend.</p><p>“Eret?”</p><p>Surrounding him there was a group of other boys who all seemed to carry themselves in a similar vein, all very stylish and put together, a stark contrast to the twin’s hand-me-down clothes and patchwork sewing spots. Wilbur couldn’t really identify all of the boys, some were from their Year but some looked a bit older, maybe year 9’s or year 10’s. </p><p>“Uh...hi. Guys, this is Wilbur and Techno...I uh.. I know them from class”</p><p>The familiar sound of muttering was echoed around the room as the boys seemed to try and decide what they were going to do with them. Predictably, it was all the usual ‘oh they’re the quiet ones’ ‘The tall one is really clingy’ stuff, at first it would hurt them but they’d grown a pretty thick skin by now, they didn’t really care about what a bunch of random guys thought of them. </p><p>They didn’t care. It didn’t matter. They were used to it.</p><p>They didn’t care and it definitely didn’t hurt that Eret hadn’t introduced them as friends and it absolutely absolutely didn’t hurt at all that these were the people he was hanging out with. </p><p>“Dude, these your little friends, man?” One of the heftier boys had laughed, elbowing Eret in the ribs lightly as he teased him. That didn’t hurt either, their affection and friendship being used as an insult. </p><p>Eret looked at them for a couple seconds, expression unreadable. </p><p>“Man no way! I wouldn’t be caught dead hanging out with them!”</p><p>Oh..</p><p>Oh wow. </p><p>Okay fuck. </p><p>Fuck. Fuck. Fuck</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>yooo we hit 1000 kudos</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. It's okay if youre not okay</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It's wednesday. <br/>Eret was still plauging on their mind's and yet they still had to meet up with the Dream Team</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Something just.. wasn’t right.</p><p>They had shown up invited this time, had made extra sure they weren’t being threatening (he hadn’t even brought his nerf guns!) and had watched multiple videos on how you're supposed to treat your friends and still, the ‘sleepy bois’ were acting like they didn’t want to be here. </p><p>Or maybe it was like 2/4 of the brothers who didn't want to be there. Techno and Wilbur were both acting off, very off. For a while, Dream had panicked that this may have been their fault, that he or his brothers may have done something unintentionally horrible enough to completely destroy the only sembilience of trust they had - but the more he watched them, they seemed more sad than angry, more hurt than annoyed. </p><p>The first warning sign had been Wilbur snapping at Dream.</p><p>===</p><p>While watching Techno play some game about farming on his DS, Wilbur sat braiding a section of his hair. Recently he had been trying to learn from both Niki and various youtube tutorials, the action of doing someone’s hair was strangely relaxing and it often left him a little upset at the fact that he had no sisters. What he did have instead was Techno and -in his opinion- Techno’s hair was far prettier than any of the girl’s in their class. </p><p>Braiding got hard and confusing but it calmed him down, the repetitive action felt similar to how he felt while clicking on a fidget toy but slower. It kept his hands busy but he had to keep his mind active to make sure he was keeping it aesthetically pleasing, it was really just a nice way to wind down. Plus! Techno liked it too! </p><p>The events of earlier that day still plagued his mind. It hurt so incredibly much to try and accept that someone he had trusted so much would betray them so easily. Was Eret ever their friend? Was it a joke from the beginning? Would there ever be anyone who would want to actually be their friend? It sure as hell didn’t feel like it. Everybody would always say they loved them then leave, just like Eret, just like their parents.</p><p>Being with his brother helped though, it reminded him that, despite everything, he had three people who were always going to love him and have his back. </p><p>Tommy was always going to be chaotically positive.<br/>Phil was always going to be strangely parental.<br/>Techno was always going to be his best friend.</p><p>As much as he believed that blood was thicker than water, the human body couldn’t survive on it’s blood alone, it needed water too. He had his brothers but friends like Niki were unfortunately far too rare. </p><p>The comfort of being alone with his brother was quickly cut short as Dream had approached, clad in a green hoodie and a new mask. It looked hand made, like they had paper mached it around a balloon and drew on the face with a sharpie, there were also a couple stickers stuck to it but they were pretty small and looked like they were from shows that Wilbur hadn’t watched. Still though, he looked happier than the last time they saw him (that wasn’t hard to do though, he had his mask this time.)</p><p>“Hey guys” The boy had hummed as he sat down near the twins, pulling his knees up on the bench and holding them close to his chest.<br/>“Why’re you alone? We were going to play bulldog in the forest if you want to join in”</p><p>Wilbur just stared back at him, talking felt like such a hassle right now, he didn’t even want to deal with it. <br/>It was just so exhausting. </p><p>“Uhm...so you don’t wanna talk.. That’s fine uh” Dream had spluttered out, clearly not expecting such a non-response from Wilbur who was usually the most eloquent one out of the four brothers.<br/>“That’s fine, that’s cool. You don’t need to talk if you don't wanna!” </p><p>Wilbur almost felt bad. Almost. It was clear that Dream was making an effort, it was clear he was trying his best, if this had been when they first met Dream would have likely made fun of him for not talking but he had learnt from spending so much time with them that sometimes people just didn’t want to talk. <br/>As nice as it was to know he was trying to be helpful, Wilbur really just did not want to talk to anyone right now. In all honesty, he didn’t even want to talk to Techno. All he wanted was to sit silently and braid his brother’s hair. </p><p>“So uh” Dream cleared his throat, looking to Techno this time when he finally accepted Wilbur wouldn't be communicating with him.<br/>“Do you two wanna play bulldog with us? Phil and Tommy are gonna play” </p><p>Techno took one look at Wilbur and shook his head. Personally, he wouldn’t mind playing with them, making some new friends might be nice after everything that had just happened but Wilbur was just very clearly not up for talking to anyone.</p><p>Sometimes people were upset, sometimes you just needed some time to strop and get out all the negative emotions. Techno wasn’t in any position to tell Wilbur he couldn’t feel the way he felt. </p><p>“Oh? Do you want us to wait until you’re finished with your DS? What’re you playin’?” </p><p>Shuffling over on the bench, Dream tried to take a peek at the game, seeing Techno tapping quickly on different buttons as his character farmed some crops. It didn’t look too interesting but hey! He had learnt that he shouldn’t insult people for what they enjoy. </p><p>“Jesus fucking Christ Dream!”<br/>Wilbur finally snapped, pushing the boy away roughly.<br/>Maybe he was being a bit short-tempered and mean, maybe they had specifically set up this day so they wouldn’t end up fighting but god dammit Wilbur was upset and he was absolutely ready to make that everybody else's problem. </p><p>“Just go away! We don’t want to play your stupid game!”</p><p>It was clear that Dream had been a little upset by what Wilbur had said, staggering back a little and getting up from where he had been sitting. Despite the fact that neither boy could see his face they could somehow still read his expression, maybe because he was overly expressive with his body parts to make up for the covered face.</p><p>“Oh um.. Okay I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pressure you”</p><p>Techno sighed, giving Dream a sympathetic look as if to say sorry and then giving Wilbur a bit of a stern glance, clearly upset with his brother for getting mad like that. </p><p>Wilbur didn’t care. </p><p>Techno could furrow his brows all he wanted, Wilbur was mad.</p><p>===<br/>The second warning was a passing comment made by Wilbur. </p><p>This time, the twins had finally decided to join in with the group, it had been right after everyone else had finished playing Bulldog so they were pretty out of breath, meaning all they were doing was sitting around talking. </p><p>Tommy was leading the conversation, hopping around and pointing to all his favourite climbing places, every now and then he’d grab someone by the hand and tug them up to show them something. It felt like he really just could not be tired out. <br/>Even so, the boy was good at reading people, it wouldn’t be surprising if he was acting extra energetic because he had noticed his big brothers being upset and wanted to give them the chance to pull back from talking if they felt like it. He was young, yes, but out of all four brothers he was probably the one who was best at understanding his own emotions. </p><p>“So over there is the big dipper!” He was jumping up and down as he pointed to a large blue drop tower that was partially under the ground.<br/>“It goes up super high but then it goes into this big pit! Sometimes I like to climb to the top and sit there!” </p><p>Phil’s eyes went wide <br/>“Tommy you what?!”</p><p>George wasn’t too interested in this explanation of the rides, if he was being honest, he was just sleepy from doing so much exercise after already walking around all day at school. The boy flopped backwards into the dirt, taking off his sunglasses and folding them besides him as he closed his eyes. </p><p>It felt nice to just lay in the sun, his brothers teased him a lot for always being so sleepy (it wasn’t uncommon that he would miss appointments or commitments because he hadn’t set an alarm) but it was just so nice and so relaxing to just ignore the outside world for a moment and think. <br/>Sometimes he felt like he’d probably be good at meditating but then again his brother’s would absolutely not leave him to chill out long enough for that. </p><p>He had been expecting to be either left alone to doze off in the sun, or for one of his brother’s to tug him up and make him stay awake, what he was not expecting was for Wilbur and Techno to join him in laying down. </p><p>“The sun is nice today” Techno had mumbled as he closed his eyes, clearly getting a little more comfortable with the boys than he had been previously.</p><p>Understandably, George was shocked to hear him talking but he decided that maybe it would help if he didn’t bring attention to it and make it a big deal, he knew Dream was only able to show his face in their house if everyone made sure not to comment on his birthmark, if they did the mask was always brought back out. </p><p>“Yeah..it’s nice but it makes me tired.”</p><p>Wilbur nodded,George was right a lot of the time; it felt light and warm, unlike the humid air that had caused him to snap earlier. Honestly he felt a little bad about it, he had obviously hurt Dream and he didn’t even apologise. Phil would surely be disappointed in him if he heard about what happened. </p><p>“I don't understand why you guys are trying to be our friends” Wilbur confessed, scooching up a little closer to Techno so he could hold his hand.<br/>“I understand liking Phil and Tommy but why us? Nobody likes us. Sometimes I wish you would stop trying, I already know how this is gonna end”</p><p>Wilbur rubbed at his eyes with his free hand but it wasn’t like the other two could tell since they had their eyes closed thankfully.<br/>George wanted to object, to tell them that they did like them and that this wasn’t going to end how he thought it would but he couldn’t bring himself to say it. He didn’t know what Wil meant when he said how it would end and it wasn’t like he could just tell them they were wrong about their previous experiences with people. He ended up pondering what he could say for so long that by the time he had a plan laid out in his mind it had been too long to reply and he had already unknowingly made the decision to just stay quiet. </p><p>Dream had heard him though. <br/>Dream had seen him rubbing at his eyes.<br/>Dream had noticed how he held onto Techno before talking about it.</p><p>Something was definitely wrong. </p><p>===</p><p>Eventually Dream decided that enough was enough. </p><p>Today was the day when they would finally talk it out, there should be no upset, no turmoil, no arguments, and yet here they were, upset. </p><p>At first, he had been tempted to just call them out in front of everyone but under better thought he realised that was most likely a very very bad idea. He wanted to help, not make things worse. </p><p>Instead, he just waited for Tommy to drag his brothers and Phil over to the ‘white house’, saying he had to show them around. It seemed like Techno and Wilbur were planning on staying back so really it was the perfect time to talk to them about it. </p><p>Once everyone else had left and was out of ear-shot, Dream made his way back over to the boys, absolutely ready to get yelled at again (which really he didn’t mind if it helped Wilbur feel better). This time though, he didn’t sit down; he just stood in front of them and crossed his arms, wanting them to know he was being serious. </p><p>“Wilbur. You’re obviously upset, okay? I understand if you’re mad we’re in your park and we’ll leave if you want us to but can you please just talk to us first?”</p><p>Wilbur sighed and rested his head on Techno’s shoulder. </p><p>Something wasn't right.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>okay so ive been trying to rewrite a future section of this fic that was supposed to include schlatt. I've seen what Ty said and i do believe that what he did was him trying to cater to his edgy audience and that he's different off camera but he went too far with the blackface joke, If he happens to change back to his old jokes where he was just like harmlessly teasing groups i don't mind supporting him again but i just cant bring myself to write about someone if that's how theyre going to present themself to the internet. That being said, the next arc of this fic WAS going to be focused on corporations and how schlatt would want to tear down lmanburg to build a warehouse but since i can't really do that anymore does anyone have any ideas? This whole situation has really just thrown me off and if i cant think of a way to continue this fic without schlatt i might end up finishing it with a big make-up chapter where everyone just becomes friends and all conflict is solved but tbh i dont wanna do that. </p><p>If you have any ideas you can leave them here or in my ask box on tumblr if you dont wanna post it publically (tumblr is innittowinit) </p><p>ty for supporting me for so long, im just overall very shocked at whats happening tbh</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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